(1836 - 1907)

Born in 1836, Mitchell graduated from the University of Sydney, majoring in physics and chemistry. He was admitted to the Bar in 1858 but never practised, instead devoting his life to the purchase and collection of books. His initial collections were mainly English literary, and by 1900 he had over 10,000 in his possession. From 1886 he endeavoured to collect every document relating to the Pacific, the East Indies, the Antarctic and Australia.

In 1898 he offered his extensive collection to the Library of NSW, and the Mitchell Wing was then opened to the public in 1910 and contained 60,000 volumes.

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