Alfred Mansfield Mitchell
Irish clergyman and activist (1853–1936)
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Alfred Mansfield Mitchell (1853 – 18 February 1936) was an Irish clergyman and activist. He advocated for anti-vivisection, vegetarianism, pacifism, and against poverty. He was the longest serving vicar of St Michael's Anglican Church in Burtonwood.[1]
Alfred Mansfield Mitchell | |
|---|---|
Portrait from obituary | |
| Born | 1853 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 18 February 1936 (aged 83) Burtonwood, England |
Resting place | Burtonwood Cemetery |
| Education | Trinity College Dublin (B.A., 1879; M.A., 1884) |
| Occupations | Clergyman, activist |
| Spouse |
Janet Elizabeth Louisa Hammond
(m. 1887) |
| Signature | |
 | |
Biography
Career
Mitchell was born in Dublin. He was ordained in 1879 and became a priest the following year.[2] Mitchell obtained his B.A. from Trinity College in 1879 and M.A. in 1884.[3] He was a curate at Clonmel before moving to England, where he held curacies at Warrington, Kentish Town, and Clerkenwell.[2] Mitchell was appointed vicar at St Michael's Anglican Church in Burtonwood in 1891, a position he held for 45 years.[1][2] His parish magazine Excelsior was widely read.[2]
Mitchell was an alderman of Lancashire County Council, a member of Burtonwood Parish Council and chairman of the Warrington County Elementary Education Committee.[2][4] He was a pacifist and campaigned to help the poor.[4] Mitchell also served as president of the People's League of Medical Freedom.[5]
Mitchell was an anti-vivisectionist and opposed the use of animals in filmmaking.[2][6] He argued that filmmakers were cruel to animals and planned to get a Bill passed through Parliament which would stop trained animals appearing in films.[4] He was a member of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection and a vice-president of the Warrington Anti-Vivisection Society.[7][8]
Vegetarianism
Mitchell was a vegetarian, non-smoker and teetotaller.[2][4] He was disappointed that there was a large amount of antagonism against vegetarianism in the Church.[9] He argued that meat dishes at Christmas festivals were non-Christian, stating that they are a "debasing and degrading orgie, a festival of blood, a festival of cruelty".[10] In 1907, he commented that "vegetarians or food reformers are the only consistent worshippers and the flesh-eater is convicted of inconsistency and falsehood".[11] Mitchell stated that meat-eaters who decorated churches for the harvest festival were making the festival a service of lies and questioned why they didn't also use "trophies of the butcher's art".[12] In 1910, he published the pamphlet "The Church and Food Reform".[13] He condemned such festivals as "uric-acid festivals" for meat-eaters.[14]
Mitchell was a vice-president of the Vegetarian Society, from 1922, and a speaker at its meetings.[15][16][17] He was a council member of Josiah Oldfield's fruitarian Lady Margaret Hospital in Bromley.[18] He was also a council member of the Order of the Golden Age[19] and wrote for its journal, The Herald of the Golden Age.[20]
Personal life and death
On 8 September 1887, Mitchell married Janet Elizabeth Louisa, the daughter of the solicitor William Hammond of London, at Stratford-sub-Castle, Salisbury.[21]
Mitchell died in Burtonwood on 18 February 1936, aged 83.[2] He was buried at Burtonwood Cemetery.[1][22]
Selected publications
- "I claim greater Health, Fitness, and Happiness" (PDF). The Herald of the Golden Age. 5 (12): 185–186. 1900.
- Humane Education: A Plea for a Humane and Ethical System of Elementary Education. 1906.[23]
- "The Christmas Altar" (PDF). The Herald of the Golden Age. 40 (5): 88–89. 1907.
- "Christmas Cruelties". Burton Wood Parish Magazine. December 1909.
- "What Shall We Eat?". Burton Wood Parish Magazine. 23 September 2019.
- "The Church and Food Reform". The Herald of the Golden Age. April 1910.
