Historical information
Frederick Mitchell was born c1874 at Staffordshire Flat, Redcastle, near Heathcote. His father was an engineer from Cornwall, and had a quartz crushing battery at Staffordshire Flat from 1870 to at least the 1890s.
Around 1886 Frederick Mitchell was an 18 year old "Engineer and Instrument Maker". He was awarded an 'Honorary Mention' at the Australian Juvenile Exhibition 1890-1. It was donated to the Ballarat School of Mines Museum in 1892. In the early 1960s the model was transferred to the Heat Engines Laboratory. All Heat Engines laboratory was moved from the Ballarat School of Mines to the Mt Helen Campus on October 1869. The model was accommodated in the thermodynamics laboratory. It was shown working during open days.
The Ballarat School of Mines Calendar for 1893, page 66 refers to this item. There is correspondence between Frederick Mitchell's grandson, F.W. Mitchell; E.J. Barker, Director of the Ballarat College of Advanced Education; and Graham Beanland, Ballarat School of Mines.
Physical description
A working model of a vertical oscillating twin cylinder steam engine with fly wheel, mounted on a wood base board and covered in glass. Usually stored under a wood-framed glass cover.
