Captain Henry Mitchell Jr. (1862–1894) was managing director of a brewery company co-founded by his father Henry Mitchell. He was also superintendent of the

fire brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

at the company's

Cape Hill Cape Hill is an area in Smethwick, Sandwell, West Midlands. It is centred on the road of the same name and includes the adjoining streets. Cape Hill starts at Waterloo Road near Shireland Collegiate Academy and ends at the High Street near Victori ...

brewery, and a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Smethwick Rifle Volunteers. He founded a brewery football team, Mitchells St George's, later

Birmingham St George's F.C. Birmingham St. George's F.C. was a football club based in Smethwick, England. The club started as St George's FC in Aston, before moving to the Cape Hill brewery in 1886 under the name Mitchell St George's. Ancestry The club's origin was in tw ...

Harry was born on 11 September 1862, in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

(then part of Staffordshire), and died from

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

at the age of just 32.

Memorials

In 1897 Henry Mitchell purchased of land, and in 1899 presented this to Smethwick Corporation to form what was named in his son's memory "Harry's Park" (now known as " Harry Mitchell Park"). Henry also built and donated Smethwick Drill Hall and the accompanying Sergeant Instructor's house. A plaque from the

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

, now in the Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre which replaced it, reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Harry 1862 births 1894 deaths Mitchells & Butlers People from Smethwick Deaths from typhoid fever British chief executives Volunteer Force officers British firefighters South Staffordshire Regiment officers 19th-century British businesspeople Military personnel from Staffordshire