Annie Beridge Jebb was born in 1863 in Derbyshire and was the only daughter of the Rev. John Beridge Jebb and his second wife Mary Wilkinson. Annie lived a humble modest life in Derbyshire until 1871 when aged 7 years her father died. She and her mother continued to live in Derbyshire long after his death.
This ordinary humble life continued until about 1881 when on the census of this year Annie is aged 17 and living as a boarder in the house of the Durant family after her mother had died. She had gone from having an ordinary life to having no home, no family and no financial means of supporting herself.
Women around this time had very few choices, it was either domestic service, the work house or marriage. In 1882 her luck was about to change. She was fortunate enough to meet Herbert Leigh Mallory an up and coming talented vicar from one of the most famous local dynasties in Cheshire. Herbert came from the Trafford Mallory families who were two of the most famous and influential families in Cheshire.
After their marriage Annie became the matriarch of this branch of a very famous local family and remained in Mobberley for the rest of her life and had four children. Their daughters Mary and Annie Victoria both married well and Annie married a civil engineer who had an estate that was named after him, Longridge.
Her son Trafford became Chief Air Marshall of the RAF and was the commanding Officer of 633 Squadron who were involved in the Dam busters campaign. Her other son George Mallory was a teacher at one of the top schools in England, Charter House before becoming a mountaineer and climbing Mount Everest several times.
With little prospects and opportunities Annie had managed to secure her future into one of Cheshire’s famous families as her husband became Clerk of Holy Orders she must have been a proud matriarch of a distinguished family for a girl from such humble beginnings.
Annie died in Mobberley in 1945, aged 82 years, 2 years after Herbert in 1943 a truly remarkable woman who came from humble beginnings and had nothing to being the matriarch of one of the most famous local Cheshire dynasties.
