Emma Mellor to Dr Wilkins

21 May, 1960

Fenby Papers, MS-99-161. Hocken Collections

Unpublished

Mellor could never have done all he did without the help of his devoted wife, Emma. Not only did she run the household but she was instrumental in preparing data for Mellor’s works and sometimes served as Mellor’s secretary. In November 1927, at a Ceramic Society Banquet to celebrate Mellor’s election to the Royal Society, Mellor paid tribute to his wife: ‘She has always taken on her shoulders every care not directly connected with my work.’ This letter from Emma Mellor to Cuthbert John Wilkins (d. 2002), one time Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Canterbury, outlines how Mellor completed his Comprehensive Treatise. The number of volumes, 16, was not planned at the outset. It was continued until it was finished. Emma says of her husband ‘From a dozen, he simply went on and on and on, very tired of it and far from well.’