Frederick Gilbert Mitchell (20 January 1884 – 8 October 1962) was an English civil engineer and businessman who founded a major international

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

business and promoted the development of a new range of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Career

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Mitchell became an apprentice on the railways at the age of 14. After working for a firm of consulting engineers as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

, he joined the engineering firm of ''Fraser and Chalmers''. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he worked as a civilian troubleshooter for Lord Kitchener. After the War Mitchell established an engineering business in

supplying coal handling plant and boilers for

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s. In 1933 he diversified into construction activities founding

Mitchell Construction Mitchell Construction was once a leading British civil engineering business based in Peterborough. History The business was founded by F.G. (Tiny) Mitchell in London in 1933 as an offshoot of Mitchell Engineering, his engineering business. In 1 ...

which focused on the construction of power stations and which, after his death, was to become one of the largest construction companies in the UK. His passion was sailing and in 1931 he became Commodore of the

Royal Corinthian Yacht Club The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is a watersports organisation based at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. History Early history The club was founded at Erith, Kent in 1872 and moved to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex in 1892. The Club provided the crew for th ...

where he was responsible for completing the new clubhouse at

Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town t ...

. During the 1950s Mitchell's business expanded rapidly enabling him to acquire a former minesweeper and restore it. He instituted the ''Finn Gold Cup'' for the

Finn Class The Finn dinghy is a single-handed, cat-rigged sailboat, and a former Olympic class for men's sailing. Since its debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the Finn has featured in every summer Olympics, making it the longest serving dinghy ...

of Sailing in 1956. In 1960, Mitchell together with J.S. Shapiro established ''Rotorcraft'', a business which developed the ''Grasshopper'' series of

s. Mitchell married Hilda Butcher in 1911, they had two sons. Their eldest son

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

was a competitive sailor who competed in the 1960 Olympics; he later succeeded his father as chairman of Mitchell Engineering Ltd. Mitchell lived at Clopton Manor in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He died in hospital in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland, in 1962.''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995''

References

1884 births 1962 deaths English civil engineers People from Peterborough Businesspeople from London 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-stub