Sir Frank Herbert Mitchell (13 June 1878 – 27 November 1951) was a British civil servant known as a private secretary and later Groom in Waiting to King George V. He was also a useful cricketer and golfer.

Cricket

Mitchell was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm underarm slow. The younger son of first-class cricketer and Eton master Richard Mitchell, he was born at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Eton College, where he represented the college cricket team. He was later educated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. Mitchell debuted for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

in the 1897

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

against

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. He played Minor counties cricket for Buckinghamshire from 1897 to 1905, which included 7

matches. Mitchell made his first-class debut for Oxford University against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1898. He played 2 further first-class matches in that season, against Somerset and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. In his 3 matches he scored 23 runs at a batting average of 5.75, with a high score of 9. With the ball he took 5 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 22.80. These all came in a single innings against Somerset, with Mitchell taking 5/32.

Golfer

Mitchell was a noted amateur golfer. He played golf for Oxford University against Cambridge University from 1898 to 1901 and also represented England in the England–Scotland Amateur Match in 1906, 1907 and 1908.

Career

During the First World War, he served as assistant director of the Official Press Bureau of the Home Office. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Ja ...

. He was to later serve as Assistant Private Secretary to King George V from 1931 to 1937. Knighted in 1937, Mitchell was subsequently appointed to the office of Groom in Waiting. He succeeded as the Secretary of the Most Noble

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

in 1933. He died at

Crowborough Warren Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...

, Sussex on 27 November 1951.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Frank 1878 births 1951 deaths People from Eton, Berkshire People from Buckinghamshire People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Oxford University cricketers English male golfers Amateur golfers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order