Edward Ambrose Mellors (10 April 1907 – 7 June 1946) was an English international

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer who rode in the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or 'Snaefell Mountain Course, Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period re ...

in 1927 and the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

from 1928 to 1939. He was the 350 cc European Champion in 1938, but died in 1946, overcome by exhaust fumes while working in a new home's poorly ventilated garage.

Youth

Mellors was born in

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, one of five sons of a

wheelwright A wheelwright is a craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright", (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker or shaper of wood) as in shipwright and arkw ...

and a clergyman's daughter. Two of his brothers drowned in a local canal as children. He wanted to be an International motorcycle racer and spent a lot of time riding in the Derbyshire hills. Mellors met his future wife when he was still 15. She was 21, so he lied about his age. After 7 months they got married. In 1936, when Mellors became a works rider for

Velocette Velocette is a line of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during i ...

, they moved south to Shirley near Birmingham. They had two daughters Gladys and Joan.
IOM TT ''Rider Ted Mellors'' (Retrieved 22 November 2006)

Racing

In 1927 Mellors came 10th in the

on a Phelon & Moore, P&M Panther. In 1930 Mellors had a

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

250 cc win. In 1936 Mellors won the French Grand Prix 350 cc class. In 1937 Mellors won the French Grand Prix 350 cc and 500 cc classes. After initially riding in the TT races, Mellors started riding in Continental events, and in 1938 won the title of 350 cc European Champion and held the title throughout the second World War, until racing started again when petrol was no longer rationed. Mellors was one of a few pre-World War II British riders who realised that they could probably make more money by racing regularly in

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

events on the Continent. In 1927

Benelli Benelli may refer to: *Benelli Armi SpA, an Italian firearm manufacturer *Benelli (motorcycles), an Italian motorcycle manufacturer *HSR-Benelli, an Austrian-Italian manufacturer of personal watercraft * Andrea Benelli (born 1960), Italian sports sh ...

produced a SOHC 175 cc model. In 1930 this became DOHC, and in 1935 the capacity was increased to 250 cc. With this machine Mellors won the Lightweight

1939 Isle of Man TT The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last races until 1947 due to the interruption by World War II. It was also the last of ten Isle of Man TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 ...

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Mellors worked in munitions and was with the volunteer fire service. He applied, but was not accepted for the Air Force due to slightly defective eyesight, despite already having a private air pilot’s licence. Mellors designed and patented a rotary valve system in the early 1940s, during World War II. He was issued Patent 559830, in March 1944.
Museum ''Rotary Valves'' (Retrieved 22 November 2006) Mellors also wrote magazine articles and had an unpublished fictionalised biography.

Accidental death

In 1946, two days after moving into a new home in Etwall Road, Hall Green,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, Mellors was overcome by exhaust fumes while working on a car, and it was his daughter Joan, arriving home from school, who found him. The Birmingham Coroner’s Court recorded a verdict of accidental death. He was 39 years old.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellors, Edward Ambrose 1907 births 1946 deaths Sportspeople from Chesterfield, Derbyshire English motorcycle racers Isle of Man TT riders Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning Accidental deaths in England