Bishop David Mitchel, Mitchell or Mitchelson (c.1591–1663) was a Scottish clergyman.

Life

Born in

the Mearns Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of north-east Scotland. It is bounded by Abe ...

, he was the son of a farmer in Garvock parish. He gained an MA degree from

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

and became minister in his home parish of

Garvock The European sprat (''Sprattus sprattus''), also known as brisling, brisling sardine, bristling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. Found in European ...

(east of

Laurencekirk Laurencekirk (, , ), locally known as Lournie or simply 'The Kirk', is a small town in the historic county of Kincardineshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is administered as part of Aberdeenshire. It is the l ...

) before translating to "second charge" of the Old Kirk, St Giles in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1628, moving to "first charge" in 1634. At that time St Giles was split into four parishes, each served by a first charge and second charge minister – eight in total, all under a single Dean.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott He held the position until he was deposed by the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

for teaching

Arminianism Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was origina ...

in 1638, after which he moved to England. While there he obtained a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, and in 1661, after the Restoration, he obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In this period he became a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. Upon the restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland, he was made

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

, receiving

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

St Andrews Cathedral The Cathedral of St Andrew (often referred to as St Andrews Cathedral) is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland as the seat of the Archdiocese o ...

on 1 June 1662. He held this position for little over half a year, contracting a mortal fever. He died at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 29 June 1663, and was buried in the

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral is a Church of Scotland church (building), church in Aberdeen, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre, in the former burgh of Old Aberdeen. Technically, St Machar's is no longer a cathedral but rather a Kirk ...

References

* Keith, Robert, ''An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688'', (London, 1924) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchel, David 1663 deaths Alumni of the University of Oxford Bishops of Aberdeen People from Kincardine and Mearns Burials at St Machar's Cathedral Canons of Westminster Year of birth uncertain Scottish Restoration bishops Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1661–1663