Dorothy May Fellows was born on 24 May 1901, the second of the eleven children of Henry Edward Fellows (1863-1951) and Emma Fellows née Jones (1878-1958). Her birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1901 in the Burton-on-Trent Registration District, Staffordshire.
Her ten siblings were: Florence Daisy Fellows (1900-1996); Ada Matilda Alice Fellows (1902-2000); Harold Henry Edward Fellows (1904-1987); Violet Elizabeth Fellows (1906-1998); Sydney Herbert Fellows (1908-1968); William Leslie Fellows (1910-1996); Raymond Frederick Fellows (1912-1993); Blanche Irene Fellows (1913-1996); Lillian Mabel Fellows (1916-2007) and John Fellows (b.1918).
When her father completed his census return form on 2 April 1911 she was shown as aged 9 years and living in a six roomed property at 288 Wetmore Road, Burton-on-Trent, with her parents and six siblings: Florence Daisy Fellows; Ada Matilda Alice Fellows; Harold Henry Edward Fellows; Violet Elizabeth Fellows; Sydney Herbert Fellows and William Leslie Fellows. Her father described himself as a guard employed by the London and North Western Railway Company.
She married Reginald Cecil Edgar Betts (1902-1971) in the 4th quarter of 1927 in the Bethnal Green Registration District, London and their son, Thomas C. E. Betts was born the following year.
The 1939 England and Wales Register confirms her date of birth as 24 May 1901 and that she was a house-keeper, living at 110 Columbia Square, Bethnal Green, with her son who was shown as being at school. Her husband was a Corporal in the Royal Air Force.
Her death was registered as aged 39 years in the 3rd quarter of 1940 in the Shoreditch Registration District, London. She was injured on the night of 7th/8th September 1940 in the Columbia Market Air Raid Shelter, Bethnal Green, which took a direct hit from a bomb and died on 17 September 1940 at St Leonard's Hospital, Nuttall Street, London, N1 5LZ.
On was buried , Sebert Road, London, E7 0NP.
She is shown as 'Dorothy Betts, aged 39 years' on the Columbia Market air raid shelter memorial in the Rose Garden, Old Market Square, Ravenscroft Park, London, E2.
She is also commemorated on the , on the which incorrectly shows her date of death as 7 September 1940 and in that is kept just outside the entrance to St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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