Early Life
Hugh Mitchell was born on the 18
th March 1787 in
Ayrshire, to
Hugh Mitchell senior and
Grizel (or Grace) Logan. Hugh may be the source of the argument documented by Robert Burns in
Jamie Goose (
see entry for Hugh senior for more details); one possibility is that Hugh junior was born out of wedlock (i.e his parents Hugh and Grizel hadn't yet married). A private note to me from an Ancestry user states that Hugh junior was the 7
th Hugh Mitchell born in generational succession!
Career
Hugh followed his father into the Royal Marines, being commissioned Second Lieutenant on the 9
th July, 1803. He made First Lieutenant on the 15
th August 1805, Captain on the 31
st July 1826; Major on the 23
rd November 1841; Lieutenant Colonel on the 10
th July, 1844 and Colonel on the 26
th February, 1851.
He served on board
H.M.S. l'lmpetueux from May 1804 to June 1805,
H.M.S. Topaze from August 1805 to March 1807;
H.M.S. Antonia, Comus, Hotspur, and Iris from October 1807 to December 1814;
H.M.S. Queen Charlotte from September 1820 to July 1823;
H.M.S. Romney from May 1825 to November 1826;
H.M.S. Revenge from February 1827 to October 1830;
H.M.S. Implacable from August 1841 to January 1842 and
H.M.S. Caledonia from 4
th November 1843 to 3
rd July 1844.
Hugh was at the blockading of
Brest; employed on the
Madeira Station when that island was taken possession of in January 1808; on the coast of Portugal during the occupation of that country by the French; blockading
St. Übes; on frequent service in boats, preventing supplies being thrown into the Tagus; captured, when in command of a small boat, under a heavy fire of musketry, and brought out a coasting vessel from under the fort of
Cezimbra, and assisted in destroying a French battery in that vicinity. Present during a considerable part of the siege of Cadiz, and the active operations carried on by the Allied Forces; in the expedition to Barossa; landed with the Marines of the Squadron at
Jariffa; was at the blockading of
Havre, 1811; in a boat attack on an enemy's convoy, and succeeded, under a very heavy fire from the batteries, in capturing one vessel, running two on shore, and forcing the remainder of the convoy to seek shelter in Caen river. In 1812, employed with Sir Home Popham's Squadron, in conjunction with a Spanish guerilla force, under the command of El Pastor, in the attack on and capture of
Leynitor and its French Garrison. He served with the Battalion in Syria, from October, 1840, to April, 1841. Colonel Mitchell's service afloat extended over 18 years, and he held the command of the Royal Marines stationed at
Pembroke Dock from May 27, 1849, to February 25 1851.
2
Family Life
Hugh married
Constance Bullen in
Pembroke on the 4
January 1836. They had five children:
- Charles Bullen Hugh, born in 1836 in Pembroke and who married firstly Fanny Rice and secondly Eliza Welldon
- Hugh Logan, born 1839 and who emigrated to Australia
- Constance Grace, born 1840 and who married William Boswell Ranken and also started an Australian offshoot of the family
- Ellen Margaret, born 1842 and who married Justus Thompson; their son Sydney went to live in South Africa with his uncle Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell, but I'm not sure what happened to him after that
- Laura Elizabeth Mary, born 1845 and who married Francis McCausland
Residences
- 1841: Hugh is listed (along with Constance his wife, and his children Charles, Hugh and Constance) as residing in Durnford Street, in Stonehouse, Plymouth. This is right near the Naval Yards and Docks.
- 1851: Hugh, Constance (wife), Constance(daughter), Ellen and Laura are listed at Woolwich, probably being at the Woolwich Division of the Royal Marines
Death
Hugh died suddenly, of pleuro-pneumonia on the 22nd May 1851, whilst at the Woolwich Barracks of the Royal Marines. For some reason his death wasn't registered until the 20th of September that year. From the Kentish Gazette (27th May 1851): Death of Colonel Mitchell, Royal Marines.
Colonel Hugh Mitchell, Secord Colonel Commandant of the Woolwich Division of Royal Marines, died at five o'clock a.m today, at his residence in the Royal Marine Barracks, after a very short illness. The gallant officer entered as Second Lieutenant in the Royal Marines on July 9, 1803.
Footnotes
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Campaign_of_1813
[2] Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser, Saturday 31 May 1851
1787 - 1851 (64 years)
[1, 2, 3] 
