50, Capt. Dixon, in which ship, bearing the flag of Admiral Gayton, he was for four years employed in the West Indies. In 1781 he joined the Dragon 74, receiving-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Osborn; and he next, between 1782 and the commencement of the French revolutionary war, served, as Midshipman, on the East India, Newfoundland, Mediterranean, and Home stations, in the Defence 74, and Isis 50, both commanded by Capt. Thos. Newnham, Merlin sloop, Capt. Edw. Pakenham, Bedford 74, Capt. Robt. Mann, Aquilon 32, Capt. Robt. Montagu, Formidable 98, bearing the flag of Admiral Leveson Gower, and Edgar 74, Capt. Albemarle Bertie. He was made Lieutenant, about 1796, into the Tourterelle, Capts. Cook and Fellows; was subsequently, from the same year until the peace of Amiens, employed in the Chapman armed ship, Capts. Cumberland and Keen, Pylades sloop, Capt. McKenzie, and Monmouth 64, Capts. Deans and Hart; and, during the late war, became attached for short periods, to the Experiment 44, Capt. Geo. Chas. Mackenzie, Comus 32, Capt. Conway Shipley, Hyacinth sloop, Capt. John Davie, Latona 38, Capt. Sotheby, and Devastation bomb, Capt. Thos. Alexander. He accompanied, in the Monmouth, the expedition to Egypt in 1801; and in the other ships he appears to have been chiefly engaged on Home service. The commission he at present holds bears date 18 Dec. 1813.
MITCHELL. (Retired Commander, 1838. f-p., 17; h-p., 34.)
Spalding Mitchell entered the Navy, 28 Nov. 1796, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Harpy sloop, Capt. Henry Bazely, on the Home station; where, from July, 1797, until May, 1801, he served with Capt. Fras. Fayerman in the Beaulieu 40 and Terrible 74, and with Capt. Stephen Poyntz again in the Beaulieu; in which ship, under the former officer, he fought as Midshipman in the action off Camperdown 11 Oct. 1797. Being nominated in March, 1803, Master’s Mate (after a servitude of eight months as Admiralty-Midshipman in the Sirius frigate, Capt. Wm. Prowse) of the Malta 80, Capt. Edward Buller, he served in that ship in Sir Robt. Calder’s action with the combined fleets of France and Spain, 22 July, 1805. He became Sub-Lieutenant, 21 Sept. following, of the Sprightly cutter, Lieut.-Commander Sam. Gordon; and, being awarded a full Lieutenant’s commission, 22 Jan. 1806, was next, from 14 April in that year until 18 July, 1810, employed, in that capacity, in the Charwell sloop, Capts. Philip Dumaresq, Edwin Henry Chamberlayne, Robt. Lisle Coulson, Hon. Wm. Gordon, and Henry Thompson. He was in consequence present in the operations of 1807 against Monte Video and Buenos Ayres; he also, in 1809, being at the time First-Lieutenant, took command of the boats, and brought off a vessel which the Charwell had driven ashore on the Ile de Bourbon; and in the course of the same year he had the misfortune to be severely wounded by the explosion of a powder-horn while in the act of pointing a gun for the purpose of covering the retreat of a party that had been sent on shore for water in the neighbourhood of St. Denis. In consideration of his sufferings the Patriotic Society voted him a gratuity. His last appointments were, 15 March, 1811, and 2 July, 1813, to the Sceptre and Marlborough 74’s, Capts. Sam. Jas. Holland, Thos. Harvey, and Robt. Honyman, on the North American and West India stations. When Second-Lieutenant of the former ship in 1812, he jumped overboard and saved the life of a seaman. He was paid otf from the Marlborough in March, 1814; and accepted his present rank 13 Oct. 1838.
MITCHELL. (Commander, 1842. f-p., 23; h-p., 13.)
Thomas Mitchell is son of Major Mitchell, R.M.
This officer entered the Navy, 31 Aug. 1811, as Sec.-cl. Vol., on board the America 74, Capt. Josias Rowley, attached to the force in the Mediterranean; where, until Oct. 1816, he continued to serve, in the Centaur 74, Capt. John Chambers White, Edinburgh 74, Capts. Robt. Rolles and Hon. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas, Furieuse 36, Capt. Wm. Mounsey, Edinburgh again, Capt. Dundas, Repulse 74, Capt. Rich. Hussey Moubray, and Berwick 74, and Impregnable 104, both commanded by Capt. Edw. Brace. He was present, as Midshipman of the Furieuse, at the reduction of the island of Ponza in Feb. 1813. In the Edinburgh he witnessed, in the course of the same year, the storming of the batteries of d’Anzo, and the capture of a convoy of 29 vessels anchored for protection under the walls; also the surrender of Via Reggio; and the unsuccessful attack on Leghorn. In 1815 it was his lot to be on board the Berwick at the taking of Gaeta; and on 27 Aug. 1816 he assisted in the Impregnable, under the flag of Rear-Admiral David Milne, at the bombardment of Algiers. From Jan. 1817 until Oct. 1823, we find him in succession employed, on the Home, St. Helena, and West India stations, in the Ister 42, Capt. Thos. Forrest, Albion 74, Capt. Rich. Raggett, Vigo 74, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Robt. Lambert, and Gloucester 74, Commodore Sir Edw. W. C. R. Owen. He was then, as a reward for his conduct in having twice in one day gone off in the quarter-boat during a heavy sea for the purpose of rescuing a man who had fallen overboard, placed on the Admiralty List for promotion, and appointed Mate of the Icarus 10, Capt. John Geo. Graham; of which vessel (having passed his examination in April, 1819) he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant 10 March, 1824. After three months of very active boat-service against the pirates on the coast of Cuba, he was placed as Mate, in July of the latter year, on board the Serapis receiving-ship at Port Royal, Capt. Geo. Vernon Jackson, lie was confirmed a Lieutenant, 10 Dec. following, in the Carnation 18; and, that sloop being paid off in July, 1825, was subsequently appointed Senior – 27 March, 1828, of the Adventure 6, Capt. Philip Parker King, employed, until her return to England in the autumn of 1830, in surveying the neighbourhood of Cape Horn – 20 Aug. 1831, of the Aetna 6, Capt. Edw. Belcher, during a servitude of three years in which vessel he assisted in surveying part of the coast of Africa and the Mediterranean, and was stationed in the river Douro during the hostilities between Pedro and Miguel, by a sentry belonging to the latter of whom he was fired at and struck while on the quarter-deck – 20 Nov. 1834, for a few weeks, of the Excellent gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Thos. Hastings – 13 March, 1836, of the Minden 74, Capt. Alex. Renton Sharpe, fitting for the Mediterranean, where, prior to his return in Feb. 1840, he received the thanks of the Admiralty (in conjunction with Lieut. Roberts) for having again gone off in the quarter-boat during a hard gale to pick up a man who had fallen into the sea – and 3 Sept. 1841, of the Formidable 84, Capts. Sir Edw. Thos. Troubridge and Sir Chas. Sullivan, fitting at Sheerness. He attained his present rank 28 Jan. 1842, and has since been on half-pay.
Commander Mitchell married, 22 Nov. 1842, Caroline, daughter of the late T. W. Pink, Esq., of Portsea.
MITCHELL. (Retired Commander, 1834. f-p., 18; h-p., 34.)
Thomas Mitchell entered the Navy, 8 Nov. 1795, as Midshipman, on board the Adventure 44, Capt. Wm. Geo. Rutherford; and for upwards of three years was employed in the West Indies in the same vessel, and in the Dictator 64, also commanded by Capt. Rutherford, Brunswick 74, flagship of Rear-Admiral Rich. Rodney Bligh, and Ceres 32, Capt. Rich. Harrison Pearson. Joining then the Amethyst 36, Capts. John Cooke and Henry Rich. Glynn, he accompanied the expedition of 1800 to Ferrol, was much employed in the conveyance of royal and diplomatic personages,
