John Mitchell was born in 1760 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. To put him in context, George ll was on the throne but died later that year to be succeeded by George lll. It is often thought that 1760 heralded the start of the Industrial Revolution.
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Malcolm Bull and Ancestry. John married the widow Rebecca Thornburn nee Hunter. Rebecca was baptised on 29 Dec 1776, her parents being William and Tabitha Hunter of Emley in Wakefield. She married John Thorburn on 3rd January 1798 who died on 5th May 1815; on his death certificate it states that he was the governor of a poorhouse. John Mitchell and Rebecca married on 29th June 1818. They had a little boy on October 4th 1819 when John was 59 years old and Rebecca was 43. He was baptised on 24th April 1820 but sadly passed away in 1822 at the age of 2 - he was the first person to be interred in the grave.
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In the 1841 Census, we see that John - aged 81 - lived in Cow Green with his wife, Rebecca - aged 60 - and their servant Mary Hemingway, 25. Their neighbours were Samuel and Mary Taylor where their children, Sarah and Mary and the servant, Hannah Fletcher, also lived. Grace Bracken aged 65 and Margaret aged 40, possibly her daughter, lived at the other side. There were only 5 houses in Cow Green at that time.
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John was a well-respected land agent based in Cow Green, Halifax. In the late 1700s/early 1800s, a land agent was quite an important position to have. Their role was pivotal in shaping the rural and urban landscape; they had to able to navigate the complexities of land management by balancing the interests of not only the landlords and tenants but also the needs of the broader community. Land agents were responsible for negotiating and acquiring land, assessing the value of residential properties, farms and estate assets; providing advice to clients on legal and tax matters related to land ownership. They were relatively well paid compared to other professionals of their time with their income often exceeding that of doctors, clergy or teachers which put them ahead of other members of the rural middle and professional classes. There was much work for a busy land agent. In the mid-1700s, Halifax was, a small but busy market town, with a population of approximately 6,000 inhabitants, but by 1800 the population had increased to about 9000. Georgian mansions such as Clare Hall (1764), Hope Hall (1765) and Somerset House (1766) were built as well as the Piece Hall (1779). Weaver to Web
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West Yorkshire Archives - he was a contemporary of Anne Lister (1791-1840) and worked closely with her as evidenced in her diaries:
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SH:7/ML/E/9/0083 From Anne Lister’s diary dated Saturday April 8th 1826
Anne Lister diary page, Apr 1826. West Yorkshire Archive Service Calderdale, SH:7/ML/E/9/0083
SH:7/ML/E/10/0120 From Anne Lister’s diary dated December 1827
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SH:7/ML/E/10/0147 From Anne Lister’s diary dated April 1828
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SH:7/ML/E/15/0150 From Anne Lister’s diary dated November 1832
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SH:7/ML/E/15/0151 From Anne Lister’s diary dated Monday November 19th 1832
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SH:7/ML/E/15/0152 From Anne Lister’s diary dated April 1828
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John is shown to have voted in the 1837 Poll Book. At this time the new Reform Act 1832 (also known as the Representation of the People Act) was the first piece of legislation to expand voting rights in the United Kingdom. It allowed the vote to men above the age of 21 who were freeholders of property but only a small percentage of the country could vote in John’s lifetime.
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John was a religious man and donated money to Methodist churches in Halifax.
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He died on Thursday 4th May 1843 at the grand age of 82 and was interred in the grave where his son, John Hunter Mitchell and mother-in-law, Tabitha Hunter were already at rest. The Halifax Guardian dated 3rd June 1843, has a notice from JS Highley Accountant of George St, Hx re John’s estate, according to Malcom Bull's Calderdale Companion. Probate records show he left effects valued at £14,097 19s 1d.
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In relation to his earlier life, was he John Mitchell Private in the Army? However, he was a weaver, could he possibly have accrued enough money in the Napoleonic wars to have afforded a large house in Cow Green and had the education to have become a Land Agent? Perhaps he met the widow Rebecca who had amassed a fortune from her family/first marriage – but then would a Poorhouse Governor have such a sizeable fortune? Would a wealthy woman marry a private who had come from a working class background?
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Researched by Suzanne Copley
Photograph of gravestone made for exhibition