Arthur George Sydney Mitchell [also known as Sydney Mitchell] was born at Headswood, Larbert, in Stirlingshire, Scotland on 7 January 1856. After attending Edinburgh University, he was articled to Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921) in Edinburgh from 1878 to 1881 and with Anderson & Browne from 1881 to 1883.
Immediately after completing his articles, he set up his own practice at 122 George Street in Edinburgh. In c.1887 he took his assistant, George Wilson (1845-1912), into partnership as Sydney Mitchell & Wilson.
The partnership was dissolved in 1909 or 1910 and soon after Mitchell retired. In c.1887 Mitchell was appointed Architect to His Majesty's General Board of Lunacy, a position he held for several years. He died in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland on 13 October 1930.
At least 28 branches of the Commercial Bank (between 1881 and 1908); St Stephen's Mission Hall and Offices, Edinburgh (1882); alterations of 3 Rothsay Terrace, Edinburgh, the house of John R. Findley, proprietor of the 'Scotsman' newspaper (1883); workers houses in the Dean Village, Edinburgh, commissioned by John R. Findley (1883); Observation Hospital, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (1885); Free Church, Scone, Perthshire (1886-87); Students' Union, University of Edinburgh (1887); Free Church, Dean, Edinburgh (1888); Free Church, Fort William, Inverness-shire (1888); Ben Nevis Low Level Meteorological Observatory, Fort William, Inverness-shire (1889); Free Church, Haddington, East Lothian (1889); Laurel Bank, Elgin, Morayshire (1889; Nurses' Home, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (1890); Tenements at Haymarket, Edinburgh (1890); Manse, United Free Church, Gullane, East Lothian (1891); Mortonhall Golf Club (c.1892-94); Infectious Diseases Wing, Trinity College Glenalmond, Perthshire (1893); Rosebery Memorial Hall, South Queensferry, West Lothian (1894); Manse, United Free Church, Parson's Green, Edinburgh (1895); Free Church, Craigmillar Park, Craigmillar, Edinburgh (1897-99); several buildings at Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries (1895-1910); Machrihanish Hotel, Machrihanish, Argyll (1898); Free Church and hall, Merchiston, Edinburgh (1900); Scottish Life Offices, Aberdeen (1902); Belhaven Hospital, Dunbar, East Lothian (1904); Kelso Cottage Hospital, Kelso, Roxburghshire (1906); and St Bride's Chapel of Ease, Dalry, Edinburgh (1908).
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See also: Historic Environment Scotland - 136 entries relate to Mitchell
Button, Roger. Arts and Crafts Churches of Great Britain: Architects, Craftsmen and Patrons. Settle, North Yorkshire: 2QT Ltd. (Publishing) Ltd., 2020
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
McDowell, D. C. ‘Scottish assets: the commercial architecture of A. G. Sydney Mitchell’. Architectural Heritage vol. 14, issue 1, November 2003 pp. 45-66
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 140, 6 March 1931 p.463