Henry Mitchell | Founder of Mitchelltown

Henry arrived in Wellington as an 8-year-old child and died in 1913, aged 80. He came out from England with his parents,  brothers and sisters on the ‘Gertrude’ in 1841. The family were from Halifax in Yorkshire. After farming in Tawa flat for a few years, the family returned to Wellington and purchased a 100-acre property in Polhill Gully for £500. They used the land to fell trees and sell firewood.

For a period of time, Henry was in business as a storekeeper with Mr W.J. Gandy at the corner of Cuba and Ingestre Street (now part of Vivian Street). Both of his parents died in 1862 and he bought out his family members of the Polhill property and farmed it for a period of time. Others began to settle near his homestead and so the area became known as Mitchelltown. Part of his farm included the valley where the Karori water works were located (now Zealandia). He sold this portion to the city council in about 1870. He sold another slice of his land to Mr Tait who founded Taitville. By degrees the remainder of the property was sold off and the Gully built on.

In 1869, Henry married Jane James, who was a widow. The couple did not have any children. Jane died in 1890. After Jane’s death, Henry sold their home on Mount Pleasant Road, and went to live in town. His health began to fail soon after and he retired from active work.

Henry was a member of the Yorkshire Society. He was also a great supporter of cricket and paid the cost of upkeeping the timepiece at the Basin Reserve pavilion. He was very popular with the Mitchelltown school children.

Henry died on 20^th February 1913 at his nephew Frederick Mitchell’s house in Abel Smith Street. Mitchelltown School closed on the day of his funeral and the students and teachers followed the cortege en masse. The Rev. W.S. Potter conducted the burial service and in a special address to the children, urged them to adopt the example set by Henry of the many humanitarian acts he undertook in his lifetime.

The beneficiaries of Henry’s estate were primarily nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephews. Most were women. The total value was £7,850.

Plot: *Public 2/N/230

By Julia Kennedy