Charles Mitchell (governor)

Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell GCMG
Charles Mitchell
Acting Governor of Natal
In office 1881–1882
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Redvers Buller
Succeeded by	Sir Henry Bulwer
3rd High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
In office January 1887 – February 1888
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir John Bates Thurston (acting)
Succeeded by	Sir John Thurston
4th Governor of Fiji
In office January 1887 – February 1888
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir John Bates Thurston (acting)
Succeeded by	Sir John Thurston
Acting Governor of the Leeward Islands
In office 1888–1888
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston
Succeeded by	Sir William Smith
7th Governor of Natal
In office 1889–1893
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Arthur Havelock
Succeeded by	Francis Haden (acting)
17th Governor of the Straits Settlements
In office 1 February 1894 – 7 December 1899
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	William Edward Maxwell
Succeeded by	James Swettenham
Personal details
Born	1836 London, United Kingdom
Died	7 December 1899(1899-12-07) (aged 62–63) Singapore
Resting place	St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore
Citizenship	British
Spouse(s)	Fanny Rice (d.1885) Eliza Weldon,
Children	Hugh Mitchell
Military service
Service/branch	Royal Marines
Years of service	1852-1878
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel

Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell GCMG (1836 – 7 December 1899) was a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Marines, before joining the Colonial Service, in which he served in British Honduras, British Guiana, Natal. He then served as Governor of Fiji, of the British Colony of Natal & Zululand (1881–1882), and of the Straits Settlements (1 February 1894 to 7 December 1899).

He attended the Royal Naval School and joined the Royal Marines in 1852. He served with them in the Baltic campaigns from 1854-1856. He retired from the marines in 1878.

Mitchell's first wife Fanny Rice died in 1885. He remarried to Eliza Weldon. He had a son, Colonel Hugh Mitchell, RM,

Mitchell died on 7 December 1899. He was buried in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, his tombstone was erected "To the glory of God and in memory of His Excellency Lieutenant Colonel Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell Royal Marine Light Infantry, G.C.M.G. Governor of the Colony who died in Singapore on 7 December 1899. This tablet is erected by the members of the Civil Service of the Straits Settlements."

Marines from the HMS Hermione served as an honour guard and pallbearers for the Mitchell's funeral^[1]

Mitchell Park Zoo in Durban, South Africa is named after him.

References

1. ↑ North China Herald, 2 May 1900, p785

• Obituary, The Times, Friday 8 December 1899; pg. 6
• The Knights of England
• Image of Sir Charles Mitchell

Governors of Fiji
Sir Hercules Robinson Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon Sir William Des Vœux Sir Charles Mitchell Sir John Bates Thurston Sir George Thomas Michael O'Brien Sir William Allardyce Sir Henry Moore Jackson Sir Everard im Thurn Sir Charles Henry Major Sir Francis Henry May Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott Sir Cecil Hunter-Rodwell Sir Eyre Hutson Sir Murchison Fletcher Sir Cecil Barton Sir Arthur Richards Sir Harry Luke Sir Philip Euen Mitchell Sir John Rankine John Ferns Nicoll Sir Alexander Grantham Sir Brian Freeston Sir Ronald Garvey Sir Kenneth Maddocks Sir Derek Jakeway Sir Robert Sidney Foster