Thomas Mitchell (explorer)

Major Sir Thomas Mitchell
Portrait of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell (c. 1830s)
Born	Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792-06-15)15 June 1792 Grangemouth, Scotland
Died	5 October 1855(1855-10-05) (aged 63) Sydney, Australia
Cause of death	Bronchitis
Resting place	Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Scottish
Education	Doctor of Civil Law
Alma mater	Oxford University
Occupation	Surveyor, explorer
Known for	Explorations of south-eastern Australia, Wyld's Atlas
Title	Lieutenant colonel Sir
Spouse(s)	Mary Blunt
Children	12
Parent(s)	John Mitchell, Janet, née Wilson
Awards	Knighthood

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of south-eastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.

Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire. On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General’s department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees. Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements. When the war was over Murray obtained permission from the Treasury for an officer to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete the sketches of the battlefields which had been begun during the war for the Military Depot. Lieutenant Mitchell, was selected as a person well qualified in every respect to aid in the accomplishment of the undertaking. The first duty allotted to him was the completing of such sketches, begun during the war, as had remained unfinished, and adding to these several other important surveys, for the execution of which it had been impossible to allot officers whilst operations were in progress in the field. But in the summer of 1819 the continuance of the disbursements made by Government for the undertaking became doubtful, so he was called home. He then devoted himself to the second part of his task, which was that of making finished drawings from the materials compiled by himself, and from other documents of ascertained authenticity. But with the cessation of the Government allowances he had to stop this work.