Lorenzo Horace Mitchell, better known as Lawrence, was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England in the second half of 1893.

He was the son of Herbert Robert John Mitchell (1872-1950), a joiner, and Sentina Conti (1872-1917). His parents had married in 1891 in their native Southampton and his mother had Italian ancestry.

One of ten children, Lorenzo's siblings were: Percival Harold (1891-1914), Herbert Robert (1895-1949), Reginald Harry (b. 1897), Dorothy (b. 1899), Leonard Archibald (b. 1900), Montague Henry (1903-1942), Harold Edward (b. 1907), Gertrude Louise (b. 1908) and Norman (1910-1981).

Lorenzo first appears on the 1901 census living at 71 Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton. At the time of the 1911 census the family have moved to 193 Northam Road, Southampton and Lawrence is described as a hairdresser.

When he signed on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, Mitchell gave his address as 45 Bevois Valley, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Oceanic and as a trimmer he received monthly wages of £5, 10.

Lorenzo "Lawrence" Mitchell was lost in the Titanic disaster and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

His family benefitted from the Titanic Relief Fund and remained in Southampton; only two years after his loss his elder brother Percival died aged 22; his mother passed away in 1917 and his father in 1950. His last known surviving sibling was his youngest brother Norman who died in Southampton in 1981 although there are brothers and sisters whose final whereabouts are unknown.