|
He was born on
3rd August 1872 in Market Weighton,
East Yorkshire
. The son of Thomas Mitchell, a farmer of 220 acres at Low Grange Farm, Market
Weighton, East Yorkshire, and Jane.
He
was educated at St. Peter’s School,
York
and
Caius
College
,
Cambridge
University
where he gained rugby blues in 1893, 1894 and 1895. He also won blues in
athletics and cricket. He caused
uproar whilst captaining
Cambridge
in the 1896 Varsity cricket match when he ordered a bowler to give away extras
so that
Oxford
would not have to follow-on. His action led to the law being changed so that
enforcing the follow-on became voluntary.
Cambridge
XV 1895. (L-R) Back Row: F. Jacob,
W.L. Bunting, S.J. Lawry, T.J. Thomas, O.G. Mackie, H.T. Wallis. Seated: R.
Griffith, S.P. Bell, F. Mitchell (Captain), A.F. Todd, L.F. Giblin, W. Falcon.
On Ground: W. Mortimer, E.A.A. Jones.
He
played rugby for
England
six times. On 14th March 1896 he captained
England
in his last international against
Scotland
at
Hampden
Park
,
Glasgow
. The
England
pack included five Yorkshiremen. This match featured four of the authors, as
well as Mitchell there was Cattell for
England
and Fleming and MacGregor for
Scotland
.
England
lost 11-0 with Fleming scoring a try for
Scotland
. This was
Englands
fourth defeat by
Scotland
in a row
In
1898 he toured
South Africa
with Lord Hawke’s cricket team. After the Boer War he captained South African
cricket teams to
England
in 1904 and 1912. He also played cricket for Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire and
Transvaal
.
He
began the South African War as a private but was later promoted to lieutenant
with the Yorkshire Dragoons, with whom he fought at Boshof and Schwartz
Koffeefontein, winning the Queen’s Medal. He returned to
England
and played cricket for
Yorkshire
between 1894 and 1904. He returned to
South Africa
and worked as a secretary to Sir Abraham "Abe" Bailey, the
South African diamond tycoon, politician, financier and cricketer,
in 1905. From 1909 to 1914 he worked on the Stock Exchange at Johnanesburg.
During World War he served with the West Riding F.F.A. being promoted to the
rank of lieutenant-colonel.
He died on 11th
October 1935 in Blackheath, London.
email: patrick.casey@cliftonrfchistory.co.uk
http://sites.google.com/site/caseybooks/
|
The
Rugby History Society