Joseph Mitchell (engineer)

Joseph Mitchell FRSE FGS MWS MICE (1803 – 26 November 1883) was a Scottish civil engineer.

This article is about the engineer. For other people with the same name, see Joseph Mitchell.

Joseph Mitchell CE

Life

He was born on 3 November 1803 in Forres, the son of John Mitchell, a civil engineer.[1]

The family moved to Inverness in 1810 where Mitchell attended Inverness Royal Academy. He continued his studies in Aberdeen. In 1820 he went to work on the construction of the Caledonian Canal under an apprenticeship to Thomas Telford.

From 1824 until his retirement in 1867 Mitchell held the post of Inspector of Highland Roads and Bridges. From 1828 he also acted as engineer for the Scottish Fisheries Board. He carried out surveys for the railways and was involved in the construction of much of the rail network in the Highlands, including the Perth to Inverness line. In 1843 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Thomas Charles Hope.[1]

From 1862 to 1867 he went into partnership with the engineers, William & Murdoch Paterson.

Mitchell was the author of several books including Reminiscences of my Life in the Highlands. He died at his London home on 26 November 1883. In the same year his son, Mitford Mitchell, presented a marble bust of Joseph Mitchell, created by Alexander Munro, to Inverness Town Hall.[2]

In recent years Mitchell's home in Inverness, Viewhill House, at the top of Castle Street, was used as a youth hostel. In October 2007, after lying empty for some time, it was severely damaged by fire.

Family

He was the father of Very Rev James Robert Mitford Mitchell[2] Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1907.

References
  • Chrimes, Mike. "Mitchell, Joseph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37774. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Specific
  1. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  2. "Joseph Mitchell, Am Baile, EN396". ambaile.org.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
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