Bot at 16:32, 30 April 2021

2021-04-30T16:32:51Z

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{{Infobox Officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Captain
| name = Jesse Mitchell
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Jesse Mitchell.jpg
| imagesize =
| office1 = Superintendent of the [[Government Museum, Chennai]]
| term_start1 = 1859
| term_end1 = 1872
| predecessor1 =[[Edward Balfour]]
| successor1 = [[George Bidie]]
| birth_date = 1812
| birth_place = St. Mary's Whitechapel, Middlesex
| death_date = 18 July 1872
| death_place = Madras
| party =
| alma_mater =
| profession = [[Soldier]], [[museum curator]]
| spouse =
}}

Captain '''Jesse Mitchell''' (1812, St. Mary's Whitechapel, Middlesex - July 18, 1872, Madras) was a British army officer who served as Superintendent of the [[Government Museum, Madras]], succeeding [[Edward Balfour]], from 15 May 1859 to 7 August 1872. He was one of the pioneers of photomicrography in India.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Photography and photomicrography in 19th century Madras | author=Raman A|year=2011| journal=Current Science| volume = 101 |pages=800–802| url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/101/06/0800.pdf}}</ref> Some of his early photographs include those of [[Phthiraptera]] from a goose and the proboscis of a blow-fly.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/madrasjournalofl05madr#page/181/mode/1up Madras Journal of Literature and Science 1859:182]</ref> He was a captain and an adjutant in the 1st Native veteran Battalion of the Indian Army. He exhibited his first photographs of old temples in 1857 at a meeting of the Photographic Society of Bengal, which also earned praise in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science. In 1858 he showed some negatives at a meeting of the [[Photographic Society of Madras]].<ref>{{cite book|page=348|title=Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860| author=Taylor, R & LJ Schaaf| publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art| year=2007 }}</ref> He wrote on the photographic techniques that he experimented with and suggested modifications to those followed by Captain [[Linnaeus Tripe]] and Dr. A.C. Brisbane Neill.<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://archive.org/stream/madrasjournalli03socigoog#page/n82/mode/2up/| title=Description of plain or waxed paper process in photography|pages=71–80|year=1857| journal=The Madras Journal of Literature and Science|volume=17}}</ref> He also published notes from the museum such as one on the [[Anabas testudineus|Indian climbing perch]] and its habit.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsandmagazi03unkngoog#page/n128/mode/2up/|title=On the climbing habits of ''Anabas scandens|author=Mitchell, Jesse| pages=117–119| year=1864| journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History| volume=13|issue=74|doi=10.1080/00222936408681585}}</ref><ref name=Aiyappan>Aiyappan, A. (1951) Madras Government Museum Centenary Souvenir (1851-1951). p. 14</ref>

Mitchell helped establish the Museum Library which later became the Connemara Public Library, acquiring books, often second-hand to stock it. It was opened in June 1862.<ref>{{ cite book|url= https://archive.org/stream/HandbookOfTheMadrasMuseum/Handbook%20of%20the%20Madras%20Museum#page/n17/mode/2up|page=4| title=Handbook of the Madras Government Museum|editor=Satyamurti, S.T.|year=1964|publisher= Government of Madras }}</ref> Mitchell died while in service and is buried at St. George's Cathedral, Madras.<ref name=Aiyappan />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Jesse}}
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:1812 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]

Jesse Mitchell - Revision history

Bot at 16:32, 30 April 2021