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David Scott Mitchell c1864

David Scott Mitchell c1864

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a668028 / PXC 831,166]

(Mitchell Library)

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Charity and philanthropy Mitchell, David Scott The Mitchell

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Charity and Philanthropy Libraries Men

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Mitchell, David Scott

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State Library of New South Wales

Charity and philanthropy

In nineteenth-century Sydney, charity protected poor people from starvation and homelessness. The introduction of benefits and pensions in the early and mid-twentieth century made it less crucial, though still important. In recent times, as government outsourced many functions previously been assigned to the state, charity regained some of the influence it had in the nineteenth century.

The Mitchell

For a century the Mitchell Library has been Sydney's memory, a storehouse of treasures and a club of eccentric scholars. It is all but impossible to write or read about the history of Australia, the Pacific and the Antarctic without being in debt to the great collector and eccentric recluse David Scott Mitchell.

Mitchell, David Scott

The Mitchell Library was officially opened on 9 March 1910, three years after the death of its acclaimed benefactor, David Scott Mitchell, on 24 July 1907. Approximately 40,000 volumes were given to the new library along with a large collection of manuscript journals, diaries and letters, thousands of prints, maps and charts, pictures and portraits, miniatures, bookplates, coins and medals. Just over 100 years later, Mitchell's bequest to Sydney, to New South Wales and to Australia, remains remarkable.

Charity and Philanthropy

Libraries

Men

Mitchell, David Scott

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Book collector and national benefactor who used his wealth and position to amass an unmatched collection of Australiana. His entire collection was bequeathed to the people of New South Wales as the Mitchell Library, in a building purpose built for it.