Frederick Gilbert Mitchell (20 January 1884 – 8 October 1962) was an English civil engineer and businessman who founded a major international

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

business and promoted the development of a new range of

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

Biography

Born on 20 January 1884, in London, Mitchell became an apprentice on the railways at age 14. After working for a firm of consulting engineers as a draughtsman, he joined the engineering firm of ''Fraser and Chalmers''. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he worked as a civilian troubleshooter for Lord Kitchener. After the War Mitchell established an engineering business in London supplying coal handling plant and boilers for

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s. In 1933, he diversified into construction activities founding

Mitchell Construction Mitchell Construction was once a leading United Kingdom, British civil engineering business based in Peterborough. History The business was founded by Frederick Gilbert Mitchell, F.G. (Tiny) Mitchell in London in 1933 as an offshoot of Mitchell E ...

which focused on the construction of power stations and which, after his death, was to become one of the largest construction companies in the UK. His passion was sailing and in 1931 he became

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

of the

Royal Corinthian Yacht Club The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is a watersports organisation based at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. History Early history The club was founded at Erith, Kent in 1872 and moved to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex in 1892. Antecedent clubs later absorbed ...

where he was responsible for completing the new clubhouse at

Burnham-on-Crouch Burnham-on-Crouch is a town and civil parish in the Maldon District of Essex, in the East of England; it lies on the north bank of the River Crouch. It is one of Britain's leading places for yachting. The civil parish extends east of the town ...

. During the 1950s, Mitchell's business expanded rapidly enabling him to acquire a former

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

and restore it. He instituted the ''Finn Gold Cup'' for the Finn Class of Sailing in 1956. In 1960, Mitchell together with J.S. Shapiro established ''Rotorcraft'', a business which developed the ''

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

'' series of

s. Mitchell married Hilda Butcher in 1911, having two sons. Their eldest son

Roy Roy or Roi is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origins. France In France, this family name originated from the Normans, the descendants of Norse Vikings who migrated to Amigny, a commune in Manche, Normandy.. The deriva ...

was a sailor who competed in the 1960 Olympics later succeeding his father as chairman of Mitchell Engineering Ltd. Mitchell lived at Clopton Manor in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. He died in hospital in Zurich, on 8 October 1962, aged 78.''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Frederick Gilbert 1884 births 1962 deaths English civil engineers People from Peterborough Businesspeople from London 20th-century English businesspeople