William Love of Perry, Maine is doing research into the life of his maternal great-grandfather, Henry St. John Mitchell, also known as George St. John Michell.
“My maternal great-grandfather abandoned his wife and two daughters (one of whom was my grandmother) in Winnipeg around 1900 or so,” Love writes.
“For the past few weeks I have been searching, to no avail, for any record of him after that date.”
Love says his great-grandfather’s birth name was George Henry St. John Mitchell, but he also went by George St. John Michell, which was the name on his marriage certificate.
“He was descended from the Michells in Ireland, but when his ancestors moved to England they Anglicized the name to Mitchell, and thereafter family members, including George, would use the two surnames interchangeably.”
Love says he recently realized his great-grandfather had brothers and sisters who had emigrated from England to Australia, and he started looking specifically in Australian and New Zealand records.
“I found three records that likely are about him, one of them being the excerpt [illustrated], each record referencing warrants out of Battleford, Saskatchewan.”
Love is hoping someone in the community might be able to provide details of his great-grandfather’s crime, “and whether he ever was caught and extradited, and what happened thereafter. One of the records, from New Zealand, requested George's immediate arrest if located, so I’m assuming the crime was fairly serious.”
Anyone with information can contact Love at [email protected].
