MITCHELL, Thomas Walter (1906-1984) 
Thomas Walter Mitchell
'Tom' Mitchell was born on 11 November 1906, the son of
Walter Edward Mitchell (1863–1917) and his wife Winifred Hatton nee Dibbs
He was educated at Cranbrook, Sydney, and Cambridge, England and admitted to the Bar at the Inner Temple, London in 1931. He lived and managed Towong Station. A champion skier, he was Australian slalom champion four times, downhill champion twice and combined champion four times. He was elected to the Upper Murray Shire Council in 1935 and after a year at Harvard enlisted in the AIF in 1940. He was captured and imprisoned at Changi in 1942.
After his demobilization he again was elected to Upper Murray Shire Council serving as President in 1946/7 before winning the seat of Benambra as a member of the Country Party in 1947. He served as solicitor-general in 1950-51 and attorney-general in 1950-52. He retired from parliament in 1976 and was awarded CMG. His father, Walter Edward Mitchell (1863-1917, was probably a student of Geelong College. His uncles,
Peter Stuckey Mitchell (1854–1921);
Thomas William Mitchell (1857-1873),
John Francis Huon Mitchell (1859–1921), and his father,
Walter Edward Mitchell (1863–1917), all attended Geelong College and are listed in the Enrolment Register.
'Tom's' wife, Sybil ‘Elyne’ Mitchell OAM (1913-2002), was the daughter of General Sir Henry George Chauvel (1865-1945), commander of the ANZAC Mounted Division Light Horse and Desert Mounted Corps in World War I and noted for the mounted charge at Beersheba. She grew up in Melbourne, married Thomas Walter Mitchel in 1935 and moved to the Mountains with him. She wrote 25 works of fiction including the notable
'Silver Brumbie Series' , and 10 of non-fiction during a publishing career from 1953 to 2003. A keen horsewoman and skier she won the Canadian downhill title in 1938.