Background
He was born in Esholt, Bradford to manufacturer Matthew Mitchell and started work at 14 years of age in his father"s mill.
He was born in Esholt, Bradford to manufacturer Matthew Mitchell and started work at 14 years of age in his father"s mill.
By that time he was a leading authority on the worsted trade and influential in Bradford politics. He was a philanthropist and governor of the Bradford School Board and Grammar School and Vice President of the Bradford’s Mechanic Institute. He was a Justice of the Peace and elected Mayor of Bradford in 1874.
He founded Bradford Technical School, now part of Bradford College, which was opened by King Edward VII in 1882, who knighted him in 1887 for his services to education.
In 1898, just before his death, was made the first Honorary Freeman of the City of Bradford. On his death he was buried in Undercliffe Cemetery, Bradford.