DEATH OF MR G. L. MELLISH, R.M.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 571, 3 January 1882, Page 3

DEATH OF MR G. L. MELLISH, R.M.

It is with feelings of deep regret—in which many Iv.ndreds of people in this community will share—that we (Lyttelion Times) have to record the death of Mr George Lilly Mellish, the Resident Magistrate for Christchurch. The melancholy fact was made known in the Court on Thursday morning, where Mr G. L. Lee,, immediately after taking his seat on the bench, announced that out of respect to the memory of Mr Mellish, who had > died that morning, the Court would be closed during the day. :

The deceased gentleman was, we believe, a native of Guernsey. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and took a scholarship at Pembroke. As a lieutenant in the English army, he saw active service during the Crimean war; and about 22 years ago he came to New Zealand, taking up a run at Lake Heron. Mr Mellish soon showed that no was prepared to fight for his adopted country, by engaging in the war which broke out in the Waikato country; and he became captain of the 4tb Waikato Militia, Sir Duncan Cameron being Commander-in- Chief of the British forces. For some tirno Mr Mellish was a settler on the Prebbleton road, beyond Beard's, liis location being at that time on the very edge of the wilderness. In 1865 he became a Resident Magistrate at Picton, whence, after a few years, he removed to Kaiapoi. The new magisterial district embraced a wide area, and necessitated the incessant toil of long journeys.

Mr Mellish came to Christchurch, from Kaiapoi, on Dec. 15, 1874 ; and nothing can better typify the estuem won by him from those who really knew him, than the almost affectionate regard always expressed towards him by the officers of the Court. If at times something of the martinet was observable in his manner, there were also instances innumerable in which the kindly feelings and active sympathy of a Christian gentleman were manifested, lie last sat in a civil case on Dec. 19, and that case was adjourned sine die. Always anxious for the discharge of duty, and to promote the convenience of those who had business it the Court, Mr Mellish left his room to take charge of the case in question. But that strong will, which had sustained him through a long course of suffering, was to serve him no longer. He was so much exhausted by the sitting that assistance was needed to enable him to reach his home. He gradually grew weaker, and died at four o'clock on Thursday morning, at the age of 47.