Samuel Mitchell

Samuel Mitchell (c. 1838 – 5 July 1912) was a pioneer of the mining industry in Western Australia. He served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia, as a member of the Legislative Council from 1884 to 1885 and a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1897 to 1901.
Mitchell was born in Cornwall, and worked in the mines there, as his father had done. He and his brother came to Western Australia in 1867 to work on the Geraldine Lead Mine (located on the Murchison River), which was one of the first mines in the colony. Mitchell later opened the Wheal Ellen and Badra lead mines, located near the town of Northampton, and in 1872 was elected to the Northampton Road Board. He served as chairman of the road board from 1876 to 1879, and eventually left the mining business, settling down in Northampton as a storekeeper, stock agent, and justice of the peace. In 1884, Mitchell was elected to the Legislative Council, representing the seat of Geraldton. However, he served for less than a year before resigning, having never been sworn in and never attended a council meeting.
At the 1897 state election, Mitchell returned to parliament as a member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Murchison. He was defeated by John Nanson at the 1901 election, and was also defeated by Nanson in a ministerial by-election later in the year. At the 1904 state election, both Mitchell and Nanson contested the seat of Greenough, which was adjacent to Murchison but considered more winnable. Mitchell placed third with 21.9 percent of the vote, behind Nanson (35.0 percent) and the sitting member, Patrick Stone (25.6 percent). Mitchell published an autobiography in 1911 (Looking Backwards: Reminiscences of Forty-Two Years), and died in Northampton in July 1912. He had married twice, both to Cornishwomen, and had 21 children – ten by his first wife, and eleven by his second. One of his grandsons was Sir David Brand, who was a Premier of Western Australia.