Mitchells of Bunbury, The

120 p. : ill., geneal. tables ; 22 cm.  #270522 (Tiny edge soiling mark to fep.)

Sir James Mitchell, GCMG (27 April 1866 – 26 July 1951) was an Australian politician. He was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years, and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia from 1948 to 1951.

Mitchell, the eldest of thirteen children, was educated at Bunbury, Western Australia and in 1885 joined the Western Australian Bank. He later was a farmer.

Mitchell married Clara Robinson Spencer, daughter of future MP William Spencer in 1888. They were married for 61 years until Clara’s death in October 1949.

In 1906, the state premier Newton Moore made Mitchell an honorary minister for agricultural expansion. In 1909 he was promoted, being given the portfolios of lands and agriculture. He recruited William Lowrie as director of agriculture.

On 17 May 1919, Premier Hal Colebatch resigned and Mitchell succeeded to the position. Mitchell won the 1921 election and remained premier until 1924. During this period he garnered much publicity for his strong support for the Soldier-Settlement Scheme in the south-west of Western Australia. As a result of his enthusiastic promotion of this scheme (which ultimately proved very costly in terms of money and resources) he was dubbed “Moo-Cow” Mitchell by the local press.^[1] Nonetheless, the establishment of a dairy industry in Western Australia can be largely credited to him. He also proved adept at dealing with the divisions between the Nationalist Party and the Country Party.

 Mitchell was the first Australian-born Governor of Western Australia; he remains the only person to have served as both premier and governor of the state. He retired from the post in June 1951. One month later he died in his railway coach during an overnight stop at Glen Mervyn siding, about 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Donnybrook, Western Australia, while on a tour of the southwest of the state. He was 85.^[2][3]