Date of Birth: 01/01/1789
Place of Birth: Fife, Scotland
Date of Death: 01/02/1869
Place of Death: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
03 Sep 1861 |
01 Feb 1869 |
7 years 4 months 30 days |
Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 24 June 1861 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
22 May 1856 |
10 May 1861 |
4 years 11 months 19 days |
First (Quinquennial) Appointments under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 13 May 1856. |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council |
28 May 1855 |
29 Feb 1856 |
9 months 2 days |
A Non-Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 – 1856 |
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Landowner, industrialist and company director. Educated locally. Appointed assistant surgeon to Sydney Hospital in 1823. Surgeon from 1829 until 1837. Carried on private practice from c.1833 until mid 1840s. Elected to medical board in 1845. President in 1852. Purchased land in the Hunter River district. Director and shareholder of Bank of Australia which failed in 1843. Built copper smelting works on Burwood estate. Established Newcastle Coal and Copper Company in 1853. A founder of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Director 1852 until 1859. Chairman from 1860 until 1865. Trustee of Australian Museum from 1853 until 1869. Benefactor of St Pauls College. University of Sydney. Shareholder of Newcastle Mechanics Institute.
Military Service
Joined Army Medical Corps in 1810. Qualified Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 1813; Saw active service in Napoleonic wars and at battle of New Orleans. Arrived in Sydney as assistant surgeon to 48th Regiment in November 1821, after earlier visits in 1817 and 1820
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of David Mitchell, farmer, and Margaret Low. Married Augusta Maria Scott on 22 August 1833 at Sydney and had issue, 3 children. Church of England.
