The Fastest Typist in Europe

In the early years of the 20th century, a young girl from Lancashire, England; following the wishes of her mother who wanted a better life for her daughter, left her life with the family’s travelling fair to learn the skills required to become a highly-qualified typist.  Not only did she go on to be the best graduate the typing college ever produced, she also became a celebrity in her own right as the “Fastest Typist in Europe”.

As Eleanor Mitchell walked nervously through the imposing entrance of the large commercial college on her very first day, feeling somewhat out of place alongside the other students who were mainly from so-called respectable middle-class families, she could never have imagined that she had taken the first timid steps on a journey that would make her one of the most celebrated people in Europe at the time.  And little did she know that in the not-too-distant future she would be having an audience with King George, travel abroad and hold the prestigious title of being the fastest typist in Europe?

Amazingly, from the very beginning of her course, Eleanor Mitchell the former fairground worker felt totally at ease using a typewriter.  “My fingers skipped easily and rapidly on the keyboard”, she said of her early days at the college.

As the months passed happily by for the young ‘Lancashire lass’, Eleanor progressed in her training at such a phenomenal rate that it was not long before the Principal of the college, impressed by her outstanding performance, took to standing behind her on many occasions as she typed passages from a newspaper, doing his utmost to divert her attention by making a variety of loud and sudden noises.  But the stoical Eleanor would not be side-tracked from her newly-acquired skills and quickly learnt to ignore all manner of distractions.

Making the most of every opportunity possible in her spare time she continued to practice on her typewriter.  Her desire to be the best was so intense that at one point she even typed out every printed word in one of her college textbooks, only to go back to the very beginning and start all over again…twice!  And as if that alone was not enough, she typed the alphabet forwards and backwards over 21,000 times. 

With such a strong-minded will to succeed, it was inevitable that her determination and diligence would bring the rewards she so richly deserved.