Sydney Mitchell

Arthur George Sydney Mitchell (7 January 1856 – 13 October 1930) was a Scottish architect. He designed a large number of bank branches, country houses, churches and church halls. His most significant commissions include the housing developments at Well Court and Ramsay Garden, both in Edinburgh.

Born in Larbert, Stirlingshire, he was the only son of Dr Arthur Mitchell and Margaret Hay Houston. Dr Mitchell served as Commissioner for the Board of Lunacy for Scotland, Chairman of the Scottish Life Assurance Company, President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and was a director of the Commercial Bank of Scotland. After private tutoring, Sydney Mitchell attended Edinburgh University, and completed his training in the office of Robert Rowand Anderson, where he was articled from 1878 to 1883.

From being an apprentice, Mitchell went straight into professional practice in 1883, utilising family contacts to gain commissions, and having a very prestigious office bought with his family's wealth at 122 George Street. George Wilson, whom he had worked with at the office of Robert Rowand Anderson, came with him as his assistant, despite being 12 years his senior. They had a lifelong relationship. Their first commission came in 1883, for the proprietor of The Scotsman newspaper, John Ritchie Findlay, whose home, 3 Rothesay Terrace, he remodelled. Another significant early commission from Findlay was for Well Court, a workers' housing development in Dean Village, Edinburgh, which he worked on between 1883 and 1886. The same year, Mitchell undertook work for the Commercial Bank, and in 1884 was appointed architect to the Bank, taking over from David Rhind who had retired in 1881. This brought him a steady stream of work, and he designed or remodelled over 20 branches over the following years.

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