Constance May MELLOR was born 21 May 1901 in Stoke-on-Trent and her death was registered in the 2nd Q of 1983 in Watford. The phonebook shows that she lived in Bushey, Herts, for many years up to her death.
Her parents were Joshua MELLOR, a potters' materials merchant, and Betsy Louisa née SHUFFLEBOTHAM. She had a brother, George Herbert MELLOR, born about 1893/4, also in Stoke-on-Trent. The 1911 census record asserts that there were no other children of the marriage. George worked in the bank until he joined up in 1915. He married Gladys Hannah JONES (b abt 1892) in Colwyn Bay Parish Church on 11 Sep 1918 - and "C M MELLOR" was one of the witnesses. Joshua had died 26 Nov 1914 - Betsy Louisa was one of his executors. George died 10/11 Feb 1919 in Valenciennes, of pneumonia, following on from influenza - having been gassed at some point before that. (There's quite a bit about him in the De Ruvigny Roll of Honour, on FMP. The marriage info also came from FMP, their Denbigh records, with Welsh Archives Services images.)
The reason for all this info is that some boxes of her letters (both to and fro, as far as I understand it) have been found and rescued from being "binned". We aren't sure why they were in one of the local schools, but they certainly don't want to keep them. A local historian - the curator of our WW1 Exhibition (http://www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk/) - has made a start on sorting through them and tells me that they include "school report for CMM from Kent College, letters from Colwyn Bay and then all sorts of letters and documents, builder’s bills etc from the addresses you have mentioned*. Constance Mellor, like her brother, was musical and took a qualification at RAM†, then another qualification in nursing. She met a young man called Jimmie, when they were both very young, but the relationship did not blossom. However, he wrote to her almost daily for nearly 30 years – a very sad story. When she lived in Aldenham Road she ran an ‘alternative medicine ‘practice and then a ‘cultured and elegant’ boarding house – hence ‘housekeeper’."
* I had let her know of the addresses that are shown in the Ancestry phonebook collection.
† For anyone who doesn't recognise the initials, that's the Royal Academy of Music.
The local historian also tells me: The Principal of the Academy told [the staff who found them] to ‘bin it’ but they would like to find a relative. Have you had any success in contacting relatives thought websites? I had no response on the few occasions I tried.
Can we help find a proper home for these letters? Constance has no (known) direct descendants. It doesn't look as if there were any children of her brother's marriage, either. It will be a question of working back, across and then down (like Heir Hunters!). I can't afford to spend a lot of time on this at the moment: it's less than a fortnight to our younger son's wedding! I have sent messages about this to two tree-holders on Ancestry: "LouiseST" and "matt18687".
Christine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have looked at:
FMP:
1911 census - Constance with her family
GRO Index for births
Denbigh Marriages - George's marriage
Ancestry:
England & Wales Probate Calendar - Joshua's probate
British Phone Books
FreeBMD:
for children of George's marriage
Times Digital Archive:
no hits found
Her parents were Joshua MELLOR, a potters' materials merchant, and Betsy Louisa née SHUFFLEBOTHAM. She had a brother, George Herbert MELLOR, born about 1893/4, also in Stoke-on-Trent. The 1911 census record asserts that there were no other children of the marriage. George worked in the bank until he joined up in 1915. He married Gladys Hannah JONES (b abt 1892) in Colwyn Bay Parish Church on 11 Sep 1918 - and "C M MELLOR" was one of the witnesses. Joshua had died 26 Nov 1914 - Betsy Louisa was one of his executors. George died 10/11 Feb 1919 in Valenciennes, of pneumonia, following on from influenza - having been gassed at some point before that. (There's quite a bit about him in the De Ruvigny Roll of Honour, on FMP. The marriage info also came from FMP, their Denbigh records, with Welsh Archives Services images.)
The reason for all this info is that some boxes of her letters (both to and fro, as far as I understand it) have been found and rescued from being "binned". We aren't sure why they were in one of the local schools, but they certainly don't want to keep them. A local historian - the curator of our WW1 Exhibition (http://www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk/) - has made a start on sorting through them and tells me that they include "school report for CMM from Kent College, letters from Colwyn Bay and then all sorts of letters and documents, builder’s bills etc from the addresses you have mentioned*. Constance Mellor, like her brother, was musical and took a qualification at RAM†, then another qualification in nursing. She met a young man called Jimmie, when they were both very young, but the relationship did not blossom. However, he wrote to her almost daily for nearly 30 years – a very sad story. When she lived in Aldenham Road she ran an ‘alternative medicine ‘practice and then a ‘cultured and elegant’ boarding house – hence ‘housekeeper’."
* I had let her know of the addresses that are shown in the Ancestry phonebook collection.
† For anyone who doesn't recognise the initials, that's the Royal Academy of Music.
The local historian also tells me: The Principal of the Academy told [the staff who found them] to ‘bin it’ but they would like to find a relative. Have you had any success in contacting relatives thought websites? I had no response on the few occasions I tried.
Can we help find a proper home for these letters? Constance has no (known) direct descendants. It doesn't look as if there were any children of her brother's marriage, either. It will be a question of working back, across and then down (like Heir Hunters!). I can't afford to spend a lot of time on this at the moment: it's less than a fortnight to our younger son's wedding! I have sent messages about this to two tree-holders on Ancestry: "LouiseST" and "matt18687".
Christine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have looked at:
FMP:
1911 census - Constance with her family
GRO Index for births
Denbigh Marriages - George's marriage
Ancestry:
England & Wales Probate Calendar - Joshua's probate
British Phone Books
FreeBMD:
for children of George's marriage
Times Digital Archive:
no hits found
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