I'm looking for photos / sketches / portraits of him for the CPS project's history book. He served as Assistant Magistrate, and though hoping to become permanent Chief Magistrate he was passed by for promotion to that job.
It's a common name, so for starters I'd like to get his dates of birth and death, as that will let me identify the correct person in searches.
His Hong Kong career is documented in the History of the laws and courts of Hongkong, noting his appointment in 1850 (he'd previously been editor of The Hongkong Register) and his departure from Hong Kong in 1860.
No sign of anything relevant in the HKPRO photo collection, and I haven't found any family tree for him yet.
His marriage ended in divorce and an unusual court case: Mitchell v. The Prince of Armenia. He'd married Mary Ann Kirby, a widow, on 1st July 1848. The court case in 1853 was against his wife and the "Prince of Armenia", who he claimed had seduced his wife. He won the case and was awarded GBP700 in damages. It is described in:
- http://archive.org/stream/historylawsandc00nortgoog#page/n373/mode/2up, and
- http://books.google.com.hk/books?ei=eleTUZOXIce1iAf47oGgDA&id=c2y3AAAAIAAJ&dq=william+henry+mary+anne+mitchell+hong+kong&q=armenia#search_anchor
Comments
W H Mitchell
A Biographical Sketch-book of Early Hong Kong By G. B. Endacott describes what happened to Mitchell after 1860: