Mitchison , family , of London

The Mitchison family came from Northumberland. William Mitchison, whose will was dated 24 March 1817, owned the Benwell estate, Northumberland, and property in Newcastle-on-Tyne. This descended in turn to his two sons. Anthony, described as formerly of Wood Street, Cheapside, London, silk manufacturer, but late of Sunbury, died unmarried in 1836, aged 51 years, and was buried at Hampton. John the elder is described in a deed of 1834 as late of Gutter Lane, silk manufacturer, now of Sunbury. He owned property in Shoreditch, Islington, Soho and the City of London in the 1820's, although no draft or original deeds of these transactions are included in this accession. There are likewise no early deeds for the Manor Estate, Sunbury, which he probably purchased about 1828, and property in Lambeth which was acquired by him or his son, William Anthony Mitchison the elder. In 1839 he was operated on by Sir Astley Cooper, but, unfortunately, the shock of the operation rendered him temporarily insane. He eventually recovered his senses but the management of the estates, until his death in 1856, fell largely to his son, William Anthony the elder. By this time his elder surviving son, John Mitchison, the younger, was insane, though not certified as such until an inquiry in 1864 (ref: ACC/1156/69-71, 73-4).

After his father's death, William Anthony managed the estate on behalf of his brother John, whose Committee he became, his sister Juliana, who was domiciled in France, and himself, and acquired property in Kensington, Sunbury, Harmondsworth and elsewhere. William Anthony succeeded to John's estate in 1899, and on his death in 1900 left the estates to his three surviving sons, the Revd. Richard Stovin Mitchison, Herbert Sturges Mitchison and Arthur Maw Mitchison. They reached an agreement about the division of the estates between them (ref: ACC/1156/39), the properties being jointly managed until this could be effected. The Benwell and Sunbury Manor estates were sold, in 1903 and 1902-21 respectively, as were several other properties. The records end in the 1920's.

The Mitchisons inherited estates in Withern, Lincs., from the Stovin family (ref: CC/1156/178). Richard Henry Stovin bequeathed his estates to Richard Stovin Maw, eldest son of his deceased half-sister, Margaret. These lands were subsequently left mortgaged and in trust to his daughters, Catherine Sturges Maw, who died unmarried in 1902, and Harriett Jane Stovin Maw, who married William Anthony Mitchison the elder. The Withern Estate was sold by her sons in 1918-19 (ref: ACC/1156/167-177). Harriett and Catherine Maw were also beneficiaries under the will of their uncle, Joseph Sturges (d.1875), who set up a trust for the benefit of his nieces and nephews (ref: ACC/1156/190).