[1] Born into a poor farming family in Derbyshire, Mitchell left home at a young age to work as a seamstress in Bolton, where she became involved in the socialist movement.

"[2] At the age of 14, after an argument with her mother, she left home and went to live with her brother William and family in Glossop and at nineteen[2] moved into Bolton, Lancashire, where she found work as a dressmaker 'earning ten shillings a week'[2] and in domestic service.

[11] She became involved in the socialist movement and spoke up for shorter hours and a half-day off (paid) weekly for shop workers,[2] and commented that the working conditions of women in the garment industry included not only poor pay and conditions, also required strict silence and fines "enforced by a thin-liped shrew of a woman.

[13] In the house where she lodged, she met a tailor's cutter called Gibbon Mitchell,[10] and both were known to Richard Pankhurst, supporting his interest in Kinder Scout area.

[10] They married in Hayfield parish church in 1895, Hannah wearing a grey dress and matching velvet hat,[2] and she gave birth to a son,[14] Frank Gibbon Mitchell in 1896.

Although her husband initially agreed to her requests for an equal division of labour in their household, she found that reality did not quite live up to this ideal.

She continued to work as a seamstress to supplement Gibbon's meagre earnings, and found the rest of her time taken up with household chores.

[13] The couple moved to Newhall, Derbyshire where socialists in this mining area co-funded a hall for meetings, and speakers often were accommodated with the Mitchells.

[2] Mitchell then joined, and worked as a part-time organiser for, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

[4] Although initially unsure about the 'property qualification' proposals expected to be acceptable, Mitchell wanted a truer equality for all male and female voters.

But hearing Annie Kenney's talk at Stalybridge Market she noted that despite appearing charmed by the speaker, the majority would support getting votes for all men (Manhood Suffrage) and make the women wait even longer to be enfranchised.

[4] During the First World War, Mitchell supported the pacifist movement volunteering for organisations such as the ILP No Conscription Fellowship and the Women's International League.

The name was chosen "in memory of an outstanding Northern socialist, feminist and co-operator who was proud of her working class roots and had a cultural as well as political vision.