Mabel’s father worked abroad and the family travelled
extensively with him, visiting South Africa, Kenya, Italy and Ireland. He went bankrupt in 1907 and left his family
who returned to England.
Mabel was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for girls
in Hertfordshire. In 1917, she became a
VAD and worked in a hospital in Bradford, Yorkshire. Mabel then falsified her age in order to
work at the National Munitions Filling Factory in Hayes, Middlesex, the minimum
age at the time being 18.
On 23rd October 1917, an explosion at the
factory killed several co-workers and Mabel lost her left leg, sustained
serious injuries to the other leg and was temporarily blinded. After recovering, she was not allowed to
claim a disability pension because she had lied about her age! Mabel had many further operations on her
right leg.
After the war, Mabel worked first as a maid then began
entertaining theatre and cinema queues with a barrel organ. She also rented out seats to people waiting
in queues.
In 1922 Mabel married Noel Eric Sproule Kalenberg and they
had a daughter – Suzanne. The marriage
did not last and they divorced. Mabel
began an affair with artist Colin Gill who painted her portrait and she gave
him space in her home for his studio.
Noticing a need for rented accommodation, Mabel opened an estate agency
in Cheyne Walk in Chelsea.
During the Second World War both Mabel and Suzanne
volunteered for the Ambulance Service and worked in London during the Blitz.
Source: Wikipedia; photo taken by Colin Gill, artist.
Mabel moved to St. Ives in Cornwall in 1945. She died in London following yet another
operation and is buried in Longstone Cemetery, Cabis Bay, Cornwall. Mabel had three volumes of her biography
published – “Fortune Grass” in 1934, “Against the Tide” in 1936 and “Homeward
Bound” in 1967 by G. Bles Publishers, London.
