John Peter Mitchell

John Peter Mitchell (1866–1935) was born in Crieff and was a solicitor and insurance agent in Comrie, Perthshire. He appears to have trained in Glasgow; in 1891 he was a law clerk general in the city, lodging alongside his brother, George, a chemist's assistant, at an address in Annette Street, Govanhill. He began practising as a solicitor in Comrie in 1893 and by 1896 had opened an office in Dunira Street adjacent to the shop belonging to his uncle, James Brough. 1

On 29 May 1903 the shop, the rooms and workshops above burnt down and Mitchell's neighbouring offices were badly damaged. The buildings were bought from Mrs Brough by the shop tenant Peter Macpherson, who commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh to redesign and refurbish the buildings. Mitchell acted as Macpherson's legal representative during the design and building process and corresponded regularly with Mackintosh from July 1903–March 1906. 2 Mitchell resided in the flat above the shop.

Mitchell was also clerk to the Comrie Parish Council and school management committee, a rate collector, inspector of the poor and a registrar. An Alexander Thomson joined Mitchell's office in 1934 or 1935 which then became Mitchell & Thomson. The practice name lived on until 1990 when it was incorporated into the firm of McArthur, Stewart & Co. in 1990. 3