Ethel Maud Prower (1873-1963)
Chopwell woman worked as "munitioner" for Armstrong's
According to the 1911 census, Ethel Maud Prower was born in Swillett, Buckinghamshire. The 1939 Register gives her date of birth as 17 May 1873. The 1911 census shows that she had been married for 17 years and had had nine chidren, two of whom had not survived infancy. At that time, the eldest of her children was 16 years old and the youngest was five months old. However, on examining the marriage index, it seems that Ethel Maud Reed married Frederick William Prower in 1904, when most of the children had already been born.
An article from the Illustrated Chronicle (see link below), featured photographs of Ethel and her husband, Fred, as he had been injured while fighting in France and she had been “severely burnt” while working as a forewoman for Armstrong’s.
Illustrated Chronicle, 15 March 1916
https://www.flickr.com/photos/illustratedchronicleww1/23862671326/in/photolist-CmEqQU-BQsAtt-BWQBCd-BWQBAu-BrzHv2-CmEqPG-CmEqJS-CgFvVM-CgFvWP-CoYgU8-Cep22E-CgFvRZ-CgFvU4-CmEqEJ-BWQBuN-CgFvUe-CgFvPp-BWQBx3-CmEqG7-BrzHsr-BrsAxQ-CgFvMk-BrzHpk-Cep1Ty-CgFvJz
Civil Parish: Chopwell
Birth date: 17-May-1873
Death date: 1963
Armed force/civilian: Civilian
Residence: 57 Canterbury Street, Byker (1911 census)
15 Mersey Street, Chopwell (1918 register of electors)
2 George Road, Coombe, Surrey (1939 Register)
Employment: Forewoman, Armstrong’s (1916 Illustrated Chronicle article)
Family: Husband: Frederick William Prower
Children: Frederick Alfred Prower, Walter Albert Prower, Ethel Freda Prower, Winifred Violet Prower, Stanley Millett Prower, Gladys Dorothy Prower, Ronald Edwin Prower
Gender: Male
Contributed by Durham County Record Office