Sir John Mellor (1 January 1809 – 26 April 1887) was an English judge and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Life

Mellor was born in Hollinwood,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

and raised in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, where his father was mayor and a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

. As a young man, his Unitarian beliefs prevented Mellor attending university. He entered law, becoming

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1833. Following failed attempts in 1852 (at

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

) and 1857 (at

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

) he was elected to Parliament to represent

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

in 1857, and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

in 1859. He was appointed to the Queen's Bench in 1861 and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

ed in 1862. Mellor was one of the two judges at the special commission set up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

in 1867 to try those accused of the murder of Police Sergeant Charles Brett. He was one of three judges at the 188-day long trial in 1873 of Arthur Orton, the

Tichborne claimant The Tichborne case was a legal ''cause célèbre'' that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by a man sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be t ...

. In his description of the case, James Beresford Atlay described him as 'second to none amongst the Common Law judges'. Hamilton notes he 'often amused the jury with his dry humour'. Mellor retired in 1879 and was raised to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

. He died at his London house in 1887 and was buried at Kingsdown, Kent.

Family

Mellor and his wife Elizabeth (née Moseley) had eight sons. Sir James Robert Mellor (1839–1926), the third son, was noted as a lawyer and polo player.

Arms

References

External links

* 1809 births 1887 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 19th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Justices of the King's Bench Knights Bachelor Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth Politics of Nottingham Queen's Bench Division judges {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub

Life

Family

Arms

References

Further reading

External links