Charles Mitchell (1820 - 1895)

Charles Mitchell (1820-1895) founded major shipbuilding yards on the River Tyne: Charles Mitchell and Co‎, and later Armstrong, Mitchell and Co, Shipbuilders. He studied at Aberdeen University and then undertook an engineering apprenticeship in London. Then, in 1842, he became a ship designer for John Coutts' shipyard in Newcastle. Ten years later, in 1852, he established his own shipbuilding business at the Low Walker yard on the Tyne. Ships built there included  Hooper, which was the first ship designed specifically to lay trans-Atlantic cable, was launched for Hooper's Telegraph Works in 1873. Mitchell and Co. joined in partnership with William Armstrong's shipyard to form Armstrong Mitchell in 1882. Mitchell also set-up shipyads for Russia, who later awarded him with the Imperial Order of St Stanislaus - this is seen in the coat of arms over the door of his home Jesmond Towers, where he lived with his wife Ann, who was originally from Walker. He funded the building of a hospital in Low Walker. In 1887 Mitchell commissioned the art nouveau St George's Church in Jesmond. He was also a major benefactor of Aberdeen University, where the Mitchell Tower (1895) and Mitchell Hall are named after him.