George Mitchell (1 April 1867 – 4 July 1937) served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

from July to September 1933.

Early life

Born in Ayrshire in the south-west of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, he emigrated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1889, and moved to

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

six years later to work as the manager of the Bank of Africa branch in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

. In 1901 he left the bank to become General Manager of the Rhodesia Exploration and Development Company, which sought to build up property.

Political career

Elected as a Member of the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council The Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council was the inaugural governing body for the British South Africa Company (BSAC) territory of Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) before its replacement by the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1923, w ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

for the Western District, in 1918 Mitchell retired from business and thereafter devoted himself to politics where he was a supporter of the Rhodesia Party and of responsible government within the colony of Southern Rhodesia. Re-elected as the member for the Bulawayo District in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, he retired from the council in 1920. With the grant of responsible government in 1923, Mitchell stood at the first election to the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was foun ...

for the seat of Bulawayo South, but was unsuccessful. He stood again at the 1928 election for the seat of Gwanda and was successful. He was appointed to the Government of Southern Rhodesia on 1 November 1930 as Minister of Mines and Public Works. From 19 May 1932, he served as Minister of Mines and Agriculture. When Howard Moffat resigned in 1933, Mitchell was chosen as the new Premier and chose to change the job title to Prime Minister. His government was a short one, lasting from 5 July 1933 until the Rhodesia Party lost the general election of September 1933, with Mitchell losing his own seat in the process, to the Reform Party led by

Godfrey Huggins Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern (6 July 1883 – 8 May 1971), was a Rhodesian politician and physician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1933 to 1953 and remained in office as the first Prime Minis ...

References

, - , - , - Prime Ministers of Rhodesia Rhodesian politicians White Rhodesian people 1867 births 1937 deaths British emigrants to Rhodesia Zimbabwean people of Scottish descent Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia {{Zimbabwe-politician-stub