Oxfordshire couple share secret to 75 year marriage

The couple met at a wedding in Longworth in 1950, when George was doing his RAF National Service in Abingdon.

Jean, one of the Bride’s sisters, ‘caught his eye’ and not long after George turned down a posting to Gibraltar and the chance of a good career in the RAF so that he could be with Jean.

They married one year later Saturday, June 16 at St Mary’s Parish Church in Longworth.

READ MORE: Police action continues over dual carriageway after dangerous races

Jean with sisters Mary and Ruby (Jean is between the two) and their mother Sybil in the Hop fields in Southmoor (Image: Ann Muir)

When asked what their recipe for a long and happy marriage was, they said “Compromise, understanding, humour, allowing each other space to pursue separate interests and never going to bed on an argument.”

They began married life in Aberdeen, George’s home city, but Jean, who had never left Oxfordshire prior to their wedding, struggled with the weather and the ‘unfamiliar Aberdeen dialect’.

They came back south, initially to Longworth to live with Jean’s parents, but when their son, Ian, was born in 1954 they moved to Southmoor.

In 1960 they completed their family with the arrival of their daughter, Ann in 1960.

READ MORE: Victoria Beckham gushed over Cruz as son visits Spice Girls site

George and Jean Mitchell today (Image: Ann Muir)

George worked in the MG car factory in Abingdon until it closed in 1980 causing him to go back into building, this time with Alec Cantwell’s company in Standlake where he worked until his retirement.

Meanwhile, Jean had gone to work at Longworth Hospital and, when that closed in 1981, she commuted daily to Witney Community Hospital until her retirement in 2012 at the age of 80.

This meant that she had to learn to drive, no mean feat for a lady in her fifties, but she passed the test on her first attempt.

For a while in the 1960s both had evening jobs at the Lamb & Flag in Longworth, a very popular restaurant at the time, although many carousing Oxford Students, who regularly frequented the establishment, dubbed it with the unofficial title of “Dirty Dudley’s” which was how, locally, it was commonly known.

George (front row, 2nd from right) in Longworth football team (Image: Ann Muir)

In his younger days, George helped out with the Longworth Scout Group and played football for both Longworth and Kingston Bagpuize becoming a successful manager of the latter for a time.

Their family has grown over the years and they now have three grandchildren, Katie, Alex and Catherine, and two great grandchildren Beatrice, who is five years old, and Max, who is two.

The family are holding a party at the Merry Miller pub on Cothill Road in Abingdon and are expecting over 60 guests are the celebration, including George’s family from Scotland.