Obituary Sir Hamilton Mitchell

Press, 8 June 1989, Page 20

Obituary Sir Hamilton Mitchell

PA Wellington Sir Hamilton Mitchell, a former president of the Returned Services Association, has died in Wellington, aged 79. Sir Hamilton, affectionately known as Pete to his friends, had been suffering from cancer of the gullet. Sir Hamilton was born in Sydney in 1910, and educated at Pukekohe Primary School, Auckland. He later attended Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University. His father died young and he was raised by an uncle, Sir Erima Northcroft, a judge of the High Court. After qualifying in law, Sir Hamilton became a judge’s associate. In 1938, according to a former colleague, John Wilson, he went into private practice, and later joined the Wellington law firm of Gault and Holdsworth, now known as Gault Mitchell and Company. During World War II Sir Hamilton served with 22 Battalion. He saw service

in the Middle East and Italy and took part in the battle for Monte Cassino. Sir Hamilton was president of Wellington R.S.A. from 1951 and to 1953, and Dominion president from 1962 to 1974. Over the years he had held numerous commune ity posts. These included vice-president of the British Commonwealth ex-ser-vices League, honorary vice-president of the World Veterans’ Federation, chairman of the National War MemorialCouncil, chairman of the National Art Gallery, deputy chairman of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fund, president of the Rehabilitation League, judge of the Courts Martial Appeal Court, chairman of the Wellington Show Association, and executive member of the United World Colleges Committee in New Zealand. The R.S.A.’s president, Alan Johnson, who served under Sir Hamilton for, T many years, said he was 'an outstanding leader and remarkable man in many

ways. Sir Hamilton was a great chairman and adjudicator, Mr Johson said, and had an ability to put other people’s thoughts into words and to frame resolutions. He said Sir Hamilton was at the helm of the R.S.A. during an important and crucial period of its development. He was knighted in 1969. Mr Wilson, a former legal partner of Gault Mitchell and Company and now a consultant, said Sir Hamilton had considerable energy and had strong community mte rests. He also keenly supported club rugby in Wellington and regularly attended Saturday matches. In his earlier years Sir Hamilton was interested in yachting and was sailing master of his uncle's yacht. Sir Hamilton's first wife, Frances Norman, died in 1980. He is surgved by his secondj,wife. orothy, two sons and a daughter.