An 'Accountant and General Financial Agent: Advertising, News and General Commission Agent' in Adelaide, Mitchell was 'a prolific South Australian author of sensational serials' (Depasquale, A Critical History of South Australian Literature 1836-1930, 1978: 4). He wrote 'about a dozen stories of the mild sensational type, 'brimful of mysteries, secrets, plots, and schemes' (Depasquale, quoting Australian Family Herald 15 August 1877, p. 41). These included 'Lady Isabel's crime' for the Burra paper, 'Love and Death' for the Naracoorte Herald, and 'A Dark Secret' for the Port Pirie Gazette. Mitchell lived at different times in Victoria and New South Wales, contributing to journals in each colony. He also published pamphlets on religious subjects, and Sketch of the Life and Ministry of the Rev. Thomas Smith (Sydney, 1873).
