Joseph William Mellor

c. 1932

Mellor Collection, Box 16

London: J. Russell & Sons

After completing his PhD in 1902, Mellor became a secondary school teacher in Staffordshire. Throughout his career, he continued to write and undertake research. Over the years, Mellor held the positions of Director of Research Laboratories of the Pottery Federation, Honorary Secretary of the UK Ceramic Society, and editor of its journal. He taught at the Central School of Science and Technology in Staffordshire, carried out scientific investigations into firebricks, glazes, clays and the like, contributed to the war effort by developing new refractory practices, and worked with ceramicists Frank Wedgwood, Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon, and Bernard Moore. Here is Mellor’s portrait as it hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.