George Bennett Mitchell & Son, architects, Aberdeen

The Collection comprises 15,000 drawings relating to buildings in the North East of Scotland, of which 10,235 have been catalogued as part of SAPPP. The remainder have been hand-listed. The catalogued material encompasses 215 projects begun between 1904 and 1939 that were identified from the contract books as being the most significant. Additional phases of these projects undertaken by the practice after the Second World War and prior to 1970 were also catalogued. The Collection includes 114 manuscripts, the majority of which are project specifications and contract books, as well as an album of local newspaper cuttings, compiled by G B Mitchell himself, dating from 1904-1923.

All catalogued projects are held at Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives. Some unannotated mechanical copies of catalogued material and smaller projects dating before 1939 are housed at Historic Environment Scotland.

George Bennett Mitchell (1865 - 1941) was educated in Aberdeen and Newburgh. He was articled to Pirie & Clyne in 1881 and joined the practice of Jenkins & Marr as assistant on completing his apprenticeship. He remained with them until 1887 when he was appointed architect in the surveyors' department of Davidson & Garden, advocates, Aberdeen. On leaving Davidson & Garden in 1904, Mitchell opened his own practice at 148 Union Street. His business mainly consisted of country house work and villas and cottages for the estates with which he had become acquainted through his work with Davidson & Garden.

Mitchell's son George Angus Mitchell (1896 - 1964) joined his father's practice in 1921, after serviing as an apprentice from 1913. Educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, he was one of the first two students to enrol at Aberdeen School of Architecture when it opened in 1913. The practice moved from 148 Union Street to 1 West Craibstone Street in 1922 and George Angus became a partner in 1929, the firm name becoming George Bennett Mitchell & Son.

In the late 1940s, John Lamb became a partners, followed in the 1950s by Gordon Taylor (d.c. 1983). Robert Alexander joined the firm in 1971 and Alan Hamilton in 1976.

From "Creating a Future for the Past: the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project" by RCAHMS.

See also Dictionary of Scottish Architects: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=202122.

Open

Open for consultation at Old Aberdeen House, open Mon-Wed 9:30-12:30 and 13:30-16:30. It is advisable to make an appointment.

Please see the Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives catalogue at https://archives.aberdeencity.gov.uk/CalmView/

Copyright of the drawings rests with Historic Environment Scotland as owners of the collection. Copying is permitted but can only be done by a member of Archives staff with a digital camera, on completion of our copy request form. HES should be informed of the copying and supplied with a copy for their database.

Robert Alexander and Alan Hamilton, partners of George Bennett Mitchell & Son, presented the George Bennett Mitchell & Son Collection (HES accession 2001/5) to RCAHMS in 1995 following a survey by the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project. The collection was deposited with Aberdeen City Archives under a charge and superintendence agreement with RCAHMS (now Historic Environment Scotland) in 2001.

Post 1939 projects were gifted to the practice to Aberdeen City Archives (collection DD398).