Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Collier Michell, (29 March 1793–28 March 1851), later known as Charles Cornwallis Michell, was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 soldier, first surveyor-general in the Cape

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

, road engineer, architect, artist and naturalist.

Early life

Born in Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, and called Charles Cornwallis Michell later in his life because of the proximity to Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 of his birthplace, Michell was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and commissioned into the Royal Artillery

Royal Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...

 in 1809. He headed a brigade at the battles of Vittoria

Battle of Vitoria

At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...

 and Toulouse

Battle of Toulouse (1814)

The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition...

, took part in Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 and was appointed teacher of military drawing at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst on 24 March 1824 and professor of military fortification at Woolwich on 25 December 1825 and promoted to the brevet rank of major shortly thereafter. He was fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Cape of Good Hope

Michell was appointed as surveyor-general at the Cape in 1828, (having probably heard of the post through his cousin Rufane Donkin

Rufane Shaw Donkin

Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin GCH KCB , was a British army officer of the Napoleonic era and later Member of Parliament.-Family:Rufane Donkin came of a military family and was the eldest child...

) at the same time holding the positions of superintendent of public works and civil engineer. For performing these functions, he received an annual salary of £800. The surveyor-general's duties included taking charge of the detailed surveys needed to produce a good map of the Colony, improving passes and roads and surveying the Colony's border accurately. He was an outstanding architect, designing various churches such as St. Paul's in Rondebosch

Rondebosch

Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with a medium-size shopping area, a small business district as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town.-History:...

 and St. John's in Bathurst

Bathurst, Eastern Cape

Bathurst is about 12 kilometers inland from Port Alfred, on the R67, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its chief claim to fame is that it was the administrative centre for the 1820 British Settlers who were established in the district as a buffer between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa...

. He suggested improvements to Table Bay

Table Bay

Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...

 Harbour and designed lighthouses at Mouille Point, Cape Agulhas

Cape Agulhas

Cape Agulhas is a rocky headland in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 (supposedly modelled on the Pharos of Alexandria) and Cape Recife.
He acted as assistant quartermaster in the Sixth Frontier War in 1834. His most active area was in the planning and construction of roads, as well as their improvement, being responsible for the planning of Michell's Pass near Ceres

Ceres, Western Cape

Ceres is a town with 46,251 inhabitants in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre and largest town of the Witzenberg Local Municipality. Ceres serves as a regional centre for the surrounding towns of Wolseley, Tulbagh, Op-die-Berg and Prince Alfred Hamlet...

 - a vast improvement on the old Mostert's Hoek Pass - and the Houw Hoek Pass near Elgin

Elgin, Western Cape

Elgin, situated in the Overberg region of South Africa, is an apple-growing area near Grabouw and is about 70 km southeast of Cape Town. A group of apple farms called Glen Elgin - owned by the Molteno family - gave the place its name...

, both carried out by Andrew Geddes Bain

Andrew Geddes Bain

Andrew Geddes Bain , South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.-Life history:...

, as well as Sir Lowry's Pass

Sir Lowry's Pass

Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots-Holland mountain range between Somerset West and Grabouw on the main national road between Cape Town and the Garden Route...

 and the Montagu Pass, the latter constructed over the Outeniqua Mountains by an Australian road-engineer Henry Fancourt White in 1843-47. Besides all his other skills, Michell was an accomplished water-colourist, particularly of landscapes. His illustrations appeared in Narrative of a voyage of observation among the colonies of Western Africa and of a campaign in Kaffirland (1837), written by his son-in-law, Capt. Sir James Edward Alexander

James Edward Alexander

Major-General Sir James Edward Alexander KStJ was a British soldier, traveller and author.-Background:Born in Clackmannanshire, he was the eldest son of Edward Alexander and his second wife, daughter of John Glas...

. He was granted a pension in 1848 and returned to England where he died on 28 March 1851 at Eltham

Eltham, London

-Parks and open spaces:There is a large variety of open green space in Eltham, in the form of parkland, fields and woodland.*Avery Hill Park is large, open parkland, situated to the east of Eltham. It is most notable for its Winter Garden, a hothouse containing tropical trees and plants from around...

.

Family

While Michell was posted in Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

, he married schoolgirl Anne D'Arragon on 10 October 1814, after eloping. She was the only daughter of a retired officer in the army of King Louis XVI of France and her parents disapproved of the match. Their first two children were born in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, Julia Anne in 1815 and Frederica Louisa in June 1817. The third, Eveline Marie, was born in Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

 on 16 April 1821, and the last Anne in Cape Town on 28 October 1829.





Sampson Michell *1755 Croft West

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

 (Admiral in the service of the Portuguese Navy) - 20 January 1809 Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 x Ann Shears from Somerset

1. Frederick Thomas (later Admiral Sir Frederick Michell KCB) *8 April 1788 Exeter
   Exeter
   Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
   
    - January 1873 Totnes
   Totnes
   Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
   
   
2. Louisa *27 October 1789 Exeter x 1809 Jacob Whitbread (29 January 1782 - 20 January 1809
   1. Jacob William
   2. Charles Frederick
   3. Gordon
3. Anne Maria *14 September 1791 Exeter x 1815 Benjamin Wood
4. Charles *29 March 1793 Exeter - 28 March 1851 Eltham, London
   Eltham, London
   -Parks and open spaces:There is a large variety of open green space in Eltham, in the form of parkland, fields and woodland.*Avery Hill Park is large, open parkland, situated to the east of Eltham. It is most notable for its Winter Garden, a hothouse containing tropical trees and plants from around...
   
    x Toulouse
   Toulouse
   Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
   
    10 October 1814 Anne D'Arragon 1799 - 3 January 1853 Eltham, London
   Eltham, London
   -Parks and open spaces:There is a large variety of open green space in Eltham, in the form of parkland, fields and woodland.*Avery Hill Park is large, open parkland, situated to the east of Eltham. It is most notable for its Winter Garden, a hothouse containing tropical trees and plants from around...
   
   
   1. Julia Anne *1815 Lisbon
      Lisbon
      Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
      
       x Cape Town 4 September 1833 Joseph Hendy Smith *13 March 1798 Ireland
   2. Frederica Louisa *June 1817 Lisbon
      Lisbon
      Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
      
       x Cape Town 27 July 1833 John Kynaston Luard *6 January 1803 Essex
   3. Eveline Marie *16 April 1821 Nantes
      Nantes
      Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
      
       x Cape Town 25 October 1837 James Edward Alexander
      James Edward Alexander
      Major-General Sir James Edward Alexander KStJ was a British soldier, traveller and author.-Background:Born in Clackmannanshire, he was the eldest son of Edward Alexander and his second wife, daughter of John Glas...
      
       *16 October 1803
   4. Anne *28 October 1829 Cape Town x 1853 Robert Courage (brewery family) - 9 children
5. Eliza *December 1794 Lisbon - died when a few months old
6. Emma Caroline *15 January 1802 Lisbon x Rev. John Page Wood (eldest son of Matthew Wood (Lord Mayor of London 1815-16) the brother of Benjamin Wood). They had 13 children, the most notable being
   1. Evelyn
   2. Katherine

Michell was a cousin of Sir Rufane Donkin

Rufane Shaw Donkin

Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin GCH KCB , was a British army officer of the Napoleonic era and later Member of Parliament.-Family:Rufane Donkin came of a military family and was the eldest child...

, sometime governor of the Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

.