Charles Pierre Melly (born

Tuebrook Tuebrook is a North-East area of Liverpool, England. At the 2001 census the population was 14,490. Toponymy The origin of the name may be Tew Brook, a tributary of the Alt. The brook itself is now almost entirely piped or culverted, with the l ...

, now

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

; 25 May 1829 – 10 November 1888) was a cotton merchant in the company of Melly, Forget & Co. and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

Melly was the son of Swiss-born cotton merchant Andre Melly and the brother of the liberal MP

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

. He was well known for his

drinking fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

s, which he created to make

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

available to the public. Most of these drinking fountains are to be found in Liverpool, but some can be found as far afield as

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Some early fountains, particularly around the docks, were in cast iron. The later, and best known, were in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

pink granite, to a standard design. In January 1858 Melly applied to purchase a piece of corporation land for the purpose of transforming it into a free recreative ground, and fitting it up with a gymnasium and other appliances for the use of the local working-class people. With

John Hulley John Hulley (19 February 1832 – 6 January 1875) was an English gymnastics and athletics entrepreneur who encouraged public participation in physical education to improve health and well-being, and was one of the instigators of the Olympic movem ...

, he founded the Liverpool Athletic Club at the Rotunda Gymnasium, Bold Street, Liverpool, and was its first president.

Liverpool Mercury The ''Liverpool Mercury'' was an English newspaper that originated in Liverpool, England. As well as focusing on local news, the paper also reported on both national and international news allowing it to circulate in Lancashire, Wales, Isle of Man ...

, 3 December 1863 – Grand Assault at Arms

Personal life

In 1854, Melly married his

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

, Louise Forget, (1825–1899) in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. They made their home at Riversley, his parents' house in

Mossley Hill Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and a Liverpool City Council ward. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the population was 12,650, increasing to 13,816 a ...

, Liverpool, and had seven sons and a daughter. Their youngest son, Henry Greg Melly (born 1869), was a pioneer aviator and founder of the Liverpool Aviation School. Melly was suffering from depression towards the end of his life and committed suicide. *

References

People from Tuebrook English philanthropists English merchants 1829 births 1888 deaths 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople {{Philanthropist-stub