Illustrated address book was presented to Kilrea bank manager

It was a ‘special edition’ Illuminated Address Book, once an important part of celebrating achievement, presented on retirement, promotion or departure from a job.

The books were generally ornate and amply-illustrated, focusing predominantly on the recipient’s life, work, family and personal and professional interests.

In the mid to late 19th and early 20th century Illuminated Address Books were commonly presented to prominent individuals, honouring their contribution to communities and organisations, but the books are all but defunct today.

The one that was discovered in Kilrea’s bank had eight much-perused, thick, card pages, bound in red hardback covers with gold leaf patterns embossed on back and front.

Dated October 27. 1923, the book’s introduction states that it was presented to “John Mitchell, Manager of the Northern Bank by his friends in Kilrea and District upon the occasion of his transfer to the Managership of the Londonderry Branch”.

The exquisitely crafted tome was designed and printed by Carey and Thomson of Royal Avenue, Belfast.

Gavin Bamford, chair of History Hub Ulster and regular contributor to Roamer’s page, was asked by the Northern Bank to trace John Mitchell’s relatives so that the book could hopefully be returned to his family.

This called for tireless research of the Mitchell family timeline using local newspapers and websites.

John Mitchell was born in Glasgow on February 13, 1879 to Peter and Hester Mitchell.

The Scottish Census of April 3, 1881 records them living at 24 Ardgowan Street, Glasgow. John had a little sister called Hester. Another sister called Mary was born on December 30. 1885.

In 1886 the family moved to Milford, Donegal, where more siblings were born - Peter, Colina, Robert and Jessie.

John joined the Northern Bank around 1897 and in 1901 he was living in Belfast, working in a city centre branch.

His family returned to Scotland where his 51-year-old father died in Glasgow in 1910.

By 1911 John was living in a boarding house in Clones.

His sister Colina married Arnold Barrs in 1912 and in 1914, John married Violet Arrowsmith at Rathmines, Dublin.

There are no known Northern Bank records of John serving during WWI but both of his brothers joined up, Robert in the Royal Navy and Peter in the Glasgow Highlanders.

Peter was killed in action in October 1917.

John’s niece, Hester Barrs, was born in 1918.

In 1919, when he was a Branch Manager in Kilrea, John and Violet had a son, Ian.

John was a keen golfer and was instrumental in setting up a new golf club in Kilrea.

The Belfast News Letter of September 19, 1919 announced his appointment as Honorary Treasurer of the club but in 1923 he was transferred to Londonderry’s Northern Bank.

A committee of local residents organised the publication of his Illuminated Address Book, bearing the names of 81 subscribers, presented to John on 27th October 1923.

His branch moved to Shipquay Place, Londonderry, where the Mitchell family lived happily in the manager’s accommodation in the three-story building.

The Londonderry Sentinel of February 3, 1925 references John’s six-year-old son Ian gifting books or toys to a charity.

As the local bank manager, John was involved with numerous community organisations and charities, often as honorary treasurer, and was also an enthusiastic member of the Irish Bank Officials’ Association (IBOA).

In 1929, John’s sister Jessie married John Macintosh in Glasgow but later that year, and into the mid 1930s, tragedy impacted the wider Mitchell family.

John’s mother, Hester, died in 1929. His brother, Robert, died in 1935 in a Karachi Hospital whilst serving in the Royal Navy. His sister, Hester, died in Glasgow in 1936.

But life as a bank manager in Londonderry continued with John, and probably some of his staff, involved in local activities and organisations.

John’s son Ian had been serving in the British Army as an officer for a few years prior to WWII being declared on September 3, 1939.

Ian was based in Singapore when the Japanese invaded and he became a POW.

He died in July 1942 and is buried in Kranji Cemetery, Singapore, with a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone and a family inscription ‘Thy Will Be Done’.

Sadly, the following year the News Letter reported on July 20, 1943 that John Mitchell received a postcard advising that his son Ian was a POW in Japanese hands and “is well.”

The arrival of that postcard must have been horrendously difficult for John and his wife Violet to cope with.

Having retired from the bank, John died in November 1946. Thereafter, the Londonderry Sentinel reported on an annual basis that Violet Mitchell made donations to the Derry City and County Hospital in memory of her son, Captain I D V Mitchell, on his birthday.

John’s sister, Colina Barrs, died in Glasgow in 1960 aged 70.

Hester Barrs died in Glasgow in 2008 aged 90.

With his son being deceased and with no evidence of any surviving wider family, John Mitchell’s Illuminated Address Book remains with the Northern Bank, now the Danske Bank, for the time being.

Gavin Bamford’s fully illustrated account, with a video, is at historyhubulster.co.uk