Godfrey Way Mitchell

Sir Godfrey Way Mitchell (31 October 1891 – 9 December 1982) was a construction engineer and entrepreneur who built up George Wimpey into a thriving business.

Career

Born in Peckham and educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School at Hatcham, Godfrey Mitchell joined Rowe & Mitchell, his father's quarrying business on Alderney on leaving school.^[1] He was given a temporary commission in the Royal Engineers in 1916 and served in France.^[1]

On demobilisation he returned to England and acquired George Wimpey turning it from a small construction company into a thriving business that exploited the need for new housing after World War I.^[1] He was Chairman of the Company from 1930 to 1973 and Life President from 1973 until his death.^[1]

Dartford by-election, 1938^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Adamson	46,514	52.4
	Conservative	Godfrey Mitchell	42,276	47.6
Majority			4,238	4.8	N/A
Turnout			88,790	68.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

A keen amateur cricketer, he also served as Master of the Worshipful Company of Paviors in 1948.^[1]

Godfrey Mitchell was knighted in 1948.^[3] In 1957 he became a member of the Restrictive Practices Court.^[4]

He died in Beaconsfield in 1982.^[1]

Family

In 1929 he married Doreen Lilian and together they went on to have two daughters.^[1]

He was the uncle of Nobel Prize winner Peter D. Mitchell.^[5]

References

1. Godfrey Way Mitchell at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 383. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
3. Cornbank
4. "No. 41067". The London Gazette. 10 May 1957. p. 2791.
5. Slater, E. C. (1 November 1994). "Peter Dennis Mitchell. 29 September 1920-10 April 1992". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 40: 282–305. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0040. JSTOR 770310. S2CID 72791163.