When he was 17, he joined the Providence Independent Chapel, and the following year, he signed a pledge to abstain from alcohol, with the support of his mother, who ran a beer house.

In 1850, he was part of a group of members who left the chapel, to found the New Milton Congregational Church, but he remained active in the Sons of Temperance organisation.

In 1874, he was elected as a Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) board member, becoming its chair before the end of the year.

In his period as chair, the CWS grew to have a turnover of millions of pounds, and employed thousands of people.

[1][2] Mitchell gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Labour in 1892, and served as President of the Co-operative Congress in both 1879 and 1892.