William Mellish (c.1710 – 16 December 1791) was a British government administrator and Member of Parliament. He was born the second son of Joseph Mellish of Doncaster, Yorkshire and Blyth Hall, Nottinghamshire and was educated at

Eton School Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

(1725) and

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

(1726). He studied law in

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

(1725) and the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

(1734). He succeeded to Blyth in 1757 on the death of his elder brother Edward. His younger brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

was MP for Great Grimsby. He was employed as the

Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

’s remembrancer in the Exchequer from 1733 to 1754. He was appointed a Commissioner of Excise for 1751-1760 and Receiver General of Customs from 1760 to January 1763 and from 1765 to 1786. He served as Joint Secretary to the Treasury in July 1765. Mellish was elected the Member of Parliament for

East Retford East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

from 1741 to 18 December 1751. He died in 1791. He had married twice, firstly Kitty da Costa, the daughter of Joseph da Costa, with whom he had 2 sons and secondly Anne, the daughter of John Gore of Bush Hill, Middlesex, with whom he had 5 sons and a daughter. His son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

by his first wife became MP for Pontefract and then Aldborough. His third son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(by his second wife) was MP for

Great Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

References

1710s births 1791 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Inner Temple Retford

Da Costa family Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub