David William Mitchell (4 August 1813 – 1 November 1859) was an English

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and illustrator.

Life and work

Mitchell was born in Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, the eldest son of Alexander Mitchell of Gerard's Cross. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1832, graduating B.A. in 1836. Residing in Bloomsberry Terrace, London, he married Prudence Philips Willes, eldest daughter of the Rev'd Edward Willes of Walcot, near Bath, Somerset on 30 October 1837. Mitchell illustrated

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother ...

's ''Genera of Birds'', but finding himself too busy with his work for the ZSL, he employed the German illustrator

Joseph Wolf Joseph Wolf (22 January 1820 – 20 April 1899) was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the preferred illustrator for explorers and naturalists including David Livi ...

as his assistant on the project. Mitchell was elected into the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in November 1843. Mitchell was the first paid secretary of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

(ZSL), taking up the post between 10 February 1847 and 6 April 1859, instigating the construction of the first public marine aquarium in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, which opened on 22 May 1853. He is credited with rescuing the London zoo financially by publishing attractive images of a few "star" animals, thus greatly increasing the number of visitors in the late 1840s. Mitchell was a collector and dealer in skins and eggs, and for a time lived in Penzance, Cornwall. Resigning his post as secretary of the ZSL on 6 April 1859, he became Aquarium Director of the

Jardin d'Acclimatation The Jardin d'Acclimatation () is a children's amusement park located in the northern part of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, alongside other attractions. History Opened on 6 October 1860 by Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie, this Paris zoo wa ...

in Paris, but died on 1 November 1859 (shot himself), only months after taking up the position, and was succeeded there by William Alford Lloyd.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, David William 1813 births 1859 deaths English zoologists Secretaries of the Zoological Society of London Zoo directors English illustrators 19th-century English people People from Chalfont St Peter Egg collectors Natural history illustrators 19th-century British painters Suicides by firearm in France