Alfred Mansfield Mitchell | |
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| 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) |
| Occupation(s) | Clergyman, activist |
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Alfred Mansfield Mitchell (1853 – 18 February 1936) was an Irish clergyman and activist. He advocated foranti-vivisection,vegetarianism,pacifism, and against poverty. He was the longest serving vicar of St Michael's Anglican Church inBurtonwood.[1]
Mitchell was born inDublin. He was ordained in 1879 and became a priest the following year.[2] Mitchell obtained hisB.A. fromTrinity College in 1879 andM.A. in 1884.[3] He was a curate atClonmel before moving to England, where he held curacies atWarrington,Kentish Town, andClerkenwell.[2] Mitchell was appointed vicar at St Michael's Anglican Church inBurtonwood in 1891, a position he held for 45 years.[1][2] His parish magazineExcelsior was widely read.[2]
Mitchell was an alderman ofLancashire County Council, a member of Burtonwood Parish Council and chairman of the Warrington County Elementary Education Committee.[2][4] He was apacifist and campaigned to help the poor.[4] Mitchell also served as president of the People's League of Medical Freedom.[5]
Mitchell was ananti-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 theBritish Union for the Abolition of Vivisection and a vice-president of the Warrington Anti-Vivisection Society.[7][8]
Mitchell was avegetarian, 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 theharvest 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 theVegetarian Society, from 1922, and a speaker at its meetings.[15][16][17] He was a council member ofJosiah Oldfield's fruitarian Lady Margaret Hospital inBromley.[18] He was also a council member of theOrder of the Golden Age[19] and wrote for its journal,The Herald of the Golden Age.[20]
On 8 September 1887, Mitchell married Janet Elizabeth Louisa, the daughter of the solicitor William Hammond of London, atStratford-sub-Castle, Salisbury.[21]
Mitchell died in Burtonwood on 18 February 1936, aged 83.[2] He was buried at Burtonwood Cemetery.[1][22]
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