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 of ...
.
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, wh ...
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 sa ...
.
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. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
) and 1857 (at
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), 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 ...
) he was elected to Parliament to represent
Great Yarmouth in 1857, and
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
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 t ...
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
Arthur Orton (20 March 1834 – 1 April 1898) was an English man who has generally been identified by legal historians and commentators as the "Tichborne Claimant", who in two celebrated court cases both fascinated and shocked Victorian soc ...
, the
Tichborne claimant. 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. 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
Further reading
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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
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