AustLit

Janet Mitchell was educated in Victoria by governesses, studied music at the Royal Academy of Music in London during WWI, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of London in 1922. Returning to Australia, Mitchell held a senior position in the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) from 1924-1926. Working for the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales (1926-1931), she was notably the first woman to hold an executive position in a big Australian bank. Later, as a journalist in Mukden, she witnessed the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, an experience which inspired her only novel, Tempest in Paradise (1935). In 1933 she was acting Principal of University Women's College (Sydney) and then spent the years 1934 to 1940 in England. During this six year period Mitchell spent time working as a journalist and also published her autobiography, Spoils of Opportunity (1938). After her return to Australia she converted to Catholicism.

One of four daughters born to the distinguished lawyer, (Sir) Edward Mitchell, Mitchell and her siblings were also the granddaughters of Dr Alexander Morrison, the renowned principal of Scotch College, Melbourne. She was the sister of Mary Mitchell and Nancy Adams (qq.v.).