Mary Mellish (27 January 1849 – 9 January 1901), later Mary Mellish Archibald, was an educator from

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, best known for her long association with women's education at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate liberal arts university. Historically based on agriculture, shipbuilding, and manufacturing, the economy is now driven ...

Early life

Mary Mellish was born in Pownal, Prince Edward Island, the daughter of James Lewis Mellish and Margaret Sophia Murray. She trained as a teacher at the

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. She earned her teaching licence in 1864. For the next five years she taught intermittently and worked for a time as a governess. She pursued further studies at Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy, Female Branch, in

. and graduated in 1867 with a Mistress of Liberal Arts diploma (MLA).

Career

Mellish served as teacher and Preceptress of the Mount Allison Wesleyan Female Academy, from 1869 to 1873. She left the classroom to marry, but returned to teaching when she became a widow in 1883 and sole supporter of her young son. She resumed her position as Preceptress at the Mount Allison Ladies' Academy in 1885, and stayed at Sackville for sixteen years, working with Principal Byron Crane Borden to improve the school. Beyond her school leadership work, Mellish was active in

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

work and other

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

activities.

Personal life and legacy

Mary Mellish married fellow educator Abram Newcomb Archibald in 1874. They had a son,

Raymond Clare Archibald Raymond Clare Archibald (7 October 1875 – 26 July 1955) was a prominent Canadian-American mathematician. He is known for his work as a historian of mathematics, his editorships of mathematical journals and his contributions to the teaching of ...

(1875-1955), who became a noted mathematician and historian of mathematics. Abram Archibald died from typhoid in 1883. Mary Mellish Archibald died from pneumonia in January 1901 in New York City, a few weeks before her 52nd birthday. The Mary Mellish Archibald Library of Folklore at Mount Allison University was begun by her son in 1905, as a memorial gift to the school.

References

External links

"Renvoyé"
(1873), a poem by Mary Mellish, published in ''Acadiensis'' 5(1905). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellish, Mary 1849 births 1901 deaths People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island 19th-century Canadian educators Mount Allison University faculty Mount Allison University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) 19th-century women educators