William Mitchell (1742–1823) was a British planter, attorney and official in Jamaica, where he was known as "King Mitchell" for his many interests in plantations. He was also a Member of Parliament at Westminster, and

West India Interest The West India Interest lobbied on behalf of the Caribbean sugar trade in Britain during the late eighteenth century. Beginning in the 17th century, Caribbean colonies appointed paid lobbyists, who were called colonial agents, to act on behalf of ...

activist.

Life

He was the eldest son of John Mitchell of Doune,

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

and his wife Margaret Ferguson. Mitchell was elected one of the Members of Parliament for Plympton Erle in 1796, supported by Paul Treby Treby. While the position of Receiver General of Jamaica was held in name at the time by Viscount Sackville, the post was leased. William Mitchell's brother James died as the lease-holder. William Mitchell went to Jamaica in 1798, and it is presumed the reason was to take up the lease on the lucrative office. He filled his brother's seat in the Jamaican assembly in 1798; and resigned as a Westminster MP in 1799, his place there being taken in a by-election by

Richard Hankey Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

. He renewed the lease in 1808 with Lord George Sackville-Germain, younger brother of the previous holder, to whom the title had passed. Mitchell gave evidence to a parliamentary committee in 1807. By the 1820s, he no longer lived in Jamaica.

Family

Mitchell and his wife Catherine Hamilton had a daughter but no sons. He left his Jamaican and Scottish property to John Mitchell, one of the five sons of his brother David, a London merchant in business with Robert Milligan.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, William 1742 births 1823 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Scottish lawyers Scottish slave owners British MPs 1796–1800