1838 map of Victoria and New South Wales showing towns, major rivers and the limits of the Colony at the time. The map shows in red the routes taken by Mitchell's expedition and camps.

The Mitchell house in Stanwell Park, by Henry Grant Lloyd, 1860. (courtesy Mitchell Library)

Major Sir Thomas Livingston Mitchell (June 16, 1792-1855), surveyor and explorer of south-eastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, but the poverty of his family following his father's death led him to join the Army in 1811. He saw service in Portugal, where Sir George Murray, later to be Colonial Secretary, was the Army's Quartermaster-General, and became Mitchell's most important connection. He learned surveying in the Army, and in 1817 he married Mary Blunt in Lisbon. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 579 pixel Image in higher resolution (993 × 719 pixel, file size: 114 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Thomas Mitchell Nineteen... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 579 pixel Image in higher resolution (993 × 719 pixel, file size: 114 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Thomas Mitchell Nineteen... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 491 pixel Image in higher resolution (3055 × 1874 pixel, file size: 696 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The earliest known painting of Stanwell Park, by Henry Grant Lloyd, 1860, possibly commissioned by Campbell to celebrate the completion of the first... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 491 pixel Image in higher resolution (3055 × 1874 pixel, file size: 696 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The earliest known painting of Stanwell Park, by Henry Grant Lloyd, 1860, possibly commissioned by Campbell to celebrate the completion of the first... Stanwell Park is a northern coastal village of the Wollongong plain, south of Sydney, Australia. ... Thomas Mitchell (1792–1855) was a Scottish explorer of Australia. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. ... The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. ... Grangemouth petrochemical works, November 2006 Grangemouth is a burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland, and formerly in the County of Stirling. ... Stirlingshire (Siorrachd Sruighlea in Gaelic) is a traditional county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the traditional county town. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Sir George Murray (February 6, 1772 - July 26, 1846) was a British soldier and politician, the second son of Sir William Murray, 5th Baronet. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Lisboa  - Subregion Grande Lisboa  - District or A.R. Lisbon Mayor Carmona Rodrigues  - Party PSD Area 84. ...

When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815 Mitchell returned to the dull routine of peacetime soldiering, and in 1827 he was pleased to take up the position of Surveyor-General of New South Wales. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying - a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Valley. Combatants Allies: Austrian Empire[1] Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Prussia[1] Russian Empire[2] Kingdom of Spain[3] Kingdom of Sweden United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland[4] French Empire - Kingdom of Holland - Kingdom of Italy - Kingdom of Naples - Duchy of Warsaw - Kingdom of Bavaria[5] - Kingdom of... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... This page is about the A1 road in Britain. ...

Retirement

In retirement Mitchell published the journals of his expeditions, which have proved a rich source for historians and anthropologists, with their close and sympathetic observations of the Aboriginal peoples he had encountered. These publications made him the most celebrated Australian explorer of his day. But he was a famously difficult man to get on with. In 1850 Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy wrote: "It is notorious that Sir Thomas Mitchell's unfortunate impracticability of temper and spirit of opposition of those in authority over him misled him into frequent collision with my predecessors." Year 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy KCH KCB (England, 10 June 1796 – February 16, 1858, London) was a British military officer and member of the aristocracy, who held governerships in several British colonies during the 19th century. ...

Mitchell died in Sydney in October 1855. A newspaper of the day commented: "For a period of twenty-eight years Sir Thomas Mitchell had served the Colony, much of that service having been exceedingly arduous and difficult. Among the early explorers of Australia his name will occupy an honoured place in the estimation of posterity." Among other ways, Mitchell is commemorated by town of Mitchell in Queensland, the electorate of Mitchell, and in the name of Mitchell College in Wodonga, Victoria. The Major Mitchell's Cockatoo is named in his honour. 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Looking downstream on the Maranoa River on the eastern side of town. ... The Division of Mitchell is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. ... Wodonga () is a small city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, Australia. ... Binomial name Lophocroa leadbeateri (Vigors, 1831) Major Mitchells Cockatoo range (in red) Synonyms Plyctolophus leadbeateri Vigors, 1831 Cacatua leadbeateri Major Mitchells Cockatoo (Lophocroa leadbeateri), also known as Leadbeaters Cockatoo or Pink Cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo restricted to arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia. ...

Mitchell is also the namesake in the highest honour of the NSW Surveyors Awards, the Sir Thomas Mitchell Excellence in Surveying Award.

External links

• Works by Thomas Mitchell at Project Gutenberg:
  • Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
  • Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1
  • Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2
• The Great North Road - Convict Trail Project