William Mitchell was an Anglican clergyman and the first ordained to hold religious services in the Swan Valley area of Swan River Colony, later the territory of Western Australia. He worked in Swan Parish for over 20 years before moving to Perth to take up a position working with convicts and prisoners in the municipal jail.

He was born in County Monaghan, and lived in Stackallen House, County Meath, before moving to live with his grandfather in Dublin. He at first began to qualify as an apothecary, but decided to follow the missionary calling. He trained in England, and initially moved to India. He moved to Australia in 1838 and settled in the Swan Valley. Until his arrival, religious services were conducted by laymen, one of whom was George Fletcher Moore. Within three years of his arrival, Mitchell supervised the opening of three permanent church buildings in his parish; by contrast, the urban centres, Perth and Fremantle, still had none. In 1842, he was reclassified by the Governor from a Missionary to a Chaplain and first Rector of the Swan Parish.

Mitchell died in Perth, Western Australia at the age of 66.

Born:	20 November 1803
Died:	3 August 1870