I have for so long, been associated with the Mitchell books, from that first day in 1969, when I started at Chance College Warley on a G Star course in Construction.
My dad purchased two books for me, which I still have in my library, Barry volume 1 ( Imperisl ) and Mitchells Servises.
They have stayed with me for 56 years, and helped me through the class work, the inevitable home work, I was a one day a week student 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, exams I took, took, and my admition into first the CIOB, and then MSAT.
But it was not until I was asked to take a look at rewriting Mitchells, that I started to buy older and older copies of his books, and the man, Charles F Mitchell began to surface, and his brother, so often forgotten, but perhaps as important as Charles. Plus lets not forget their colleagues who helped draw, and I suspect write copy for the book. I am lucky to have found two different collection of drawing plates used in the books. One day I will copy and use in an article.
But lets start with Charles:
Charles Frederick Mitchell was born in 1859, the fifth son and one of eight siblings of Alfred Mitchell and his wife Elizabeth: Alfred was a metropolitan policeman and was in charge of Prince Albert’s security.
It seems that Charles Died in 1916 and is Buried in Acton Cemetery London Borough of Ealing, Greater London, England](https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2232267/acton-cemetery) It seems he died from unknown causes whilst in Hospital
(There is an Ancestery.com reference that might be Charles, this needs further investigation.), I do a lot of Genealogy, for my name so I plan to start a new research on the Mitchel line.
Charles Frederick was initially apprenticed as a carpenter ( See 1881 census ) but thereafter his elder brother Robert Mitchell CBE (1855-1933) guided his further education.
Robert Mitchell CBE] was Honorary Secretary of Quinton Hogg’s](http://www.quintinhoggtrust.org/history.html) Young Men’s Christian Institute at the age of sixteen from 1871 and its salaried secretary from 1878.
In 1882 Hogg purchased the lease of the Royal Polytechnic Institution] in Regent Street and refounded it as the Regent Street Polytechnic, its object being, as with its predecessor the Christian Institute, to provide the lower middle classes with technical education and recreation: and to further these purposes Robert founded the Polytechnic together with a Touring Association (later absorbed into the Lunn Poly) to facilitate study elsewhere in the UK and on the Continent, particularly Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.
The history of the founding of Regent street poly is well documentewd in the book “Educating Mind Body and Spirit, by Helen Glwe, Anthony Gorst, Michael Heller and Neil Mathews.
In parallel Charles Frederick Mitchell, apprenticed as a carpenter, presumably pushed by his older brother, he trained as an architect, whether through private study and evening classes or through experience in an architect’s office is unclear, but he was in independent practice by about 1882 when he joined the evening class staff on a part-time basis.
In 1887 he commenced teaching day classes in building construction and architecture and in 1888 became a full-time member of staff, becoming head of the Technical School shortly thereafter. He was admitted MSA (Manchester School of Architecture ) in 1890, but does not appear to have sought membership of the RIBA, presumably because of the lack of formal articled apprenticeship.
His younger brother George Arthur Mitchell] was his articled pupil from 1888 until 1890. In the latter year he too joined the Technical staff and as a lecturer. Later to become a very experienced and respected Architect.
They both wrote new text books for their students, they compiled the first edition of Mitchell’s building construction, published by Batsford in 1888 with regular revisions thereafter to the present day via Routledge. together with Fourty Lessons in Carpentry Workshop Practice, curously published at the Polytechnic Young mens Christian Institute in 1888
Charles married in 1885 to Alice Louise Wheeler which resulted in a son Harold (1886 - 1950 ) but sadley Alice died in 1892. aged 32
In 1896 Charles remaried Constance Emily Alic Cox producing another child also called Constance.
Mitchell died in post in 1916. He was survived by his wife Emily Constance Herring whom he had married in 1885. Also on their Regent Street Polytechnic staff was their sister Matilda who found the School of Domestic Science in 1891, following a temporary appointment in the previous year.
## Regents Street Polytechnic History web site
The origins of the School of Architecture and the Built Environment can be traced back to the late 19th century, with the foundation of Quintin Hogg’s Young Men’s Christian Institute (YMCI) in the early 1870s.
In 1882 the Young Men's Christian Institute became Regent Street Polytechnic when the Polytechnic Scheme of Administration was approved by an Order in Council on 23 June 1891.
The Scheme, which was drawn up under the auspices of the Charity Commissioners, established a new governing body and ensured annual funding from the City Parochial Foundation.
The Scheme changed the name and status of a well-established and rapidly expanding institution. The Young Men's Christian Institute (originally the Youths' Christian Institute), founded and funded by Quintin Hogg (1845-1903) in Covent Garden,
Hogg bought 309 Regent Street in 1881 and in 1882 the Institute moved into 309 Regent Street and for the first few years, the building must have seemed vast compared with the previous back-street premises in Covent Garden.
As Hogg began an ambitious programme of evening classes in trade and technical education which were open to the general public, the institute gradually assumed the title of Polytechnic, which came from the name of the building, well known to the public as the former home of the Royal Polytechnic Institution.
In 1888 a book published by Charles F Mitchell of the Polytechnic Institute, 309 Regents Street. appeared and as we all know became the most well known construction book all over the globe.
By 1887 it seems Charles was attending Part-Time as a lecturer, and in 1888 became a full-time member of staff, becoming head of the Technical School shortly thereafter.
In 1888, Robert Mitchell was director of Education at the Polytechnic
In 1891, Hogg’s Polytechnic became the model upon which other polytechnics were founded in London. The term ‘polytechnic’ entered the UK education system for the first time and officially took the name Regent Street Polytechnic.
At this time there was a School of Architecture providing evening Classes and from 1894 day classes and it seems Charles was head of School.
On 11th January 1886 there were 130 boys, 300 by the start of the second academic year and soon over 500, aged between 8 and 17.
From 1892, the school divided into two virtually separate schools – a Technical Division under Charles Mitchell (brother of Robert) and a Commercial Division under David Woodhall, with a separate Preparatory Division under Mr. T Hobart Pritchard
Construction Book
Charles first released a construction book in the October of 1888 the preface to the first edition taken from my earliest copy the 2th Edition printed in 1898 shown below as both a transcript and pdf of the original:
Preface to the First Edition original
It has been my duty, with my respected colleague the late A. HARLAND, Esq, A.R.I.B.A., to prepare great numbers of students for the Annual Examinations in Building Construction ni the Elementary, Advanced, and Honours Stages, and we felt the great need of a text-book, with illustrations fully dimensioned, containing the latest practice, and that had been thoroughly revised by specialists ni each of the building trades. With this object in view, and having the co-operation of my fellow teachers of the Polytechnic Institute, I have compiled this work, primarily for our own students, but trusting that it wil be found useful to those in other classes, and to all persons connected with the building trades.
I take this opportunity to thank J. W. Clarke, lectureron "Plumbing"; G. C. Pope, teacher of "Practical Carpentry"; H. W. Richards, lecturer on "Brickwork and Masonry"; H. .J Spooner, C.E., F.G.S., lecturer on " Engineering"; E. A. Young, lecturer on "Building Construction," for the great assistance rendered in re- vising the chapters against which their names are placed on page viii, and to E. G. Davey for his valuable assistance in preparing illustrations.
Charles F Mitchell October 1888
The passing of Charles, in 1916, must have been a great shock, to the family and polytechnic, but it did not stop the revisions and updates to the series, with George taking over in much the same style. In a new post, I intend to take a look at George, and his influence on the book series for many years. Its difficult to establish exactly when he relinquished control as the new breed of Authors kept his name as lead, adding their own, as contributing authors.
I am indebted to the authors of “Educating Mind Body and Spirit”, together with an excellent paper “Mitchells Building Construction Goes to China: The Impact of British Polytechnics construction Teaching and Construction text books in Shanghai (1870 - 1937 ).
My new web site Frog Up or Down ( frog-up-or-down.co.uk ) will contain many of my lectures and research notes, its a reuse of my original ScaysTech site, but renamed and reformatted, to reflect all my construction research, and lectures.
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