MELLISH, William (1807-1895), born in London, England in 1807, was active as a builder, contractor and later as an architect in Brantford, Ont. He emigrated to Canada in 1841 and worked in Toronto for two years before moving to Brantford to begin a contracting business. He hired John J. Russell as a carpenter and later formed a partnership with him. By 1851 they were advertising themselves as builders, carpenters and contractors, with '...estimates for every description of architectural work furnished' (R.S. Mackay, The Canada Directory, 1851, 37, advert.). Their ability to prepare plans and to undertake the construction of major buildings was influential in their selection in May 1852 to design and build the Waterloo County Court House at BERLIN, ONT. (now Kitchener). This early Italianate work served as a model for their later proposal for the Huron County Court House at Goderich (1854), a design which virtually replicates their scheme for the Court House in Berlin.
In late 1853 they invited Joseph J. Morrell to join the partnership. The firm of Mellish, Morrell & Russell succeeded in obtaining several important railway contracts for the construction of the Buffalo and Goderich divisions of the Grand Trunk Railway. Only one architectural commission, that of the Huron County Court House, was executed by the firm before its dissolution in August 1856 (Semi-Weekly Expositor [Brantford], 29 Aug. 1856, 3, advert.). Earlier that year Mellish had decided to open his own office as 'Public Architect' in Brantford, working in collaboration with C.R. Porter, a former partner with John Turner (Semi-Weekly Expositor [Brantford], 20 May 1856, 3, advert.). In June of that year Mellish was one of eighteen architects and builders to submit an entry in the competition for the Market House in Guelph, Ont. (Tri-Weekly Advertiser [Guelph], 6 June 1856, 2). His scheme was not premiated and the First Prize was awarded to William Thomas of Toronto.
During the next decade Mellish was listed as a builder in Brantford, and from 1867 onward consistently appears in Directory listings as an architect in that city. In 1874 he invited his son Albert H. Mellish to join him in a partnership and remained active with him until his retirement in 1886 when his son took over the practice. Mellish died at Kansas City while on a family visit there on 10 May 1895 and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brantford (obituaries in The Courier (Brantford), 13 May 1895, 4; Weekly Expositor [Brantford], 17 May 1895, 12; inf. from Paul Dilse, Toronto)
MELLISH & RUSSELL
BRANTFORD, ONT., Central School, Sheridan Street at George Street, 1850; burned 1890 (Journal of Education for Upper Canada, iii, March 1850, 44)
WOODSTOCK, ONT., major addition of transepts to St. Paul's Anglican Church, Dundas Street, 1851 (T.S. Shenston, The Oxford Gazetteer, 1852, 119)
KITCHENER, ONT., Waterloo County Court House & Jail, Weber Street at Queen Street, 1852; Court House demol. 1965; jail extant (Journal of the Proceedings & By-Laws of the Provisional Council of the County of Waterloo, 1853, entry for 31 May 1852, 16; Waterloo County Historical Society Annual Reports, lxv, 1977, 60-71; A. Adamson & M. MacRae, Cornerstones of Order, 1983, 180-81, illus.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., Railway Station and Shops for the Buffalo & Brantford Railway, 1852-54 (F.N. Walker, 'Birth of the Buffalo and Brantford Railway' in Ontario History, xlvii, Spring 1955, 84)
BRANTFORD, ONT., Methodist Church, Market Street at Darling Street, 1854-55 (Daily Expositor (Brantford), 4 Dec. 1885, 1, historical article on the church)
MELLISH, MORRELL & RUSSELL
GODERICH, ONT., Huron County Court House, Market Square, 1854-56; burned 1956 (J. Scott, The Settlement of Huron County, 1966, 134-9; A. Adamson & M. MacRae, Cornerstones of Order, 1983, 182-3, illus.; dwgs. at the Huron County Museum, Goderich)
W. MELLISH
BRANTFORD, ONT., Congregational Church, George Street at Wellington Street, 1865, demol. 1959 (Brantford Expositor, 20 Oct. 1865, 3, descrip.; J. Sutherland, County of Brant Gazetteer & Directory, 1869-70, 73, illus. & descrip.)
FAIRFIELD PLAINS, ONT., Methodist Church, in Burford Township, Fairfield Road at Maple Avenue South, 1868; still standing in 2022 (inf. Brant County Heritage Inventory, 2016)
TROY, ONT., Mount Carmel Methodist Episcopal Church, 1873-74 (inf. from Troy United Church, Minute Book of the Building Committee, 23 Jan. 1873; A. Adamson & M. MacRae, Hallowed Walls, 1975, 233-34, illus.)
MELLISH & SON
CALEDONIA, ONT., retail store and residence for Richard Seldon, 1874 (Daily Expositor [Brantford], 4 Feb. 1874, 2, t.c.)
SIMCOE, ONT., Mechanics Institute, Peel Street, 1874 (Norfolk Reformer [Simcoe], 13 March 1874, 3, t.c.)
(with John Turner) BRANTFORD, ONT., 'Wycliffe Hall', the Young Men's Christian Association Block, Colborne Street, 1874-75; burned 1961 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 24 April 1874, 3, t.c.; 30 April 1875, 3, descrip.; History of the County of Brant, 1883, 318-19, descrip.)
PARIS, ONT., large factory for Adams, Hackland & Co., 1874 (Daily Expositor [Brantford], 18 July 1874, 2, t.c.)
JARVIS, ONT., a parsonage for an unnamed church, 1874 (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 10 Feb. 1875, 46)
NANTICOKE, ONT., Wesleyan Methodist Church, 1874-75 (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 10 Feb. 1875, 46)
CAINSVILLE, ONT., Methodist Church, 1875 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 8 Jan. 1875, 2, t.c.; 14 Jan. 1876, 3, descrip.)
ONONDOGA, ONT., Town Hall, 1875 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 4 June 1875, 2)
BRANTFORD, ONT., East Ward Baptist Church, Dalhousie Street, 1875 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 3 Sept. 1875, 1, descrip.)
CAYUGA, ONT., additions and alterations to the Haldimand County Gaol, a Gaoler's residence, and a stone wall around the Gaol yard, 1876 (Globe [Toronto], 26 Oct. 1876, 3, t.c.)
WELLAND, ONT., 'Orient Hall', for the Oddfellows, East Main Street, 1877; burned 1961 (Welland Tribune, 6 July 1877, 3, t.c.)
HAMILTON, ONT., Gore Street Methodist Church, John Street North at Gore Street, 1878; demol. 1926 (Globe [Toronto], 10 April 1878, 4; Spectator [Hamilton], 20 June 1878, 4; and 23 Nov. 1878, 4; Daily Expositor [Brantford], 13 Dec. 1878, 4, descrip.; inf. Robert Hamilton)
NANTICOKE, ONT., residence for John Lindsay, Walpole Township, 1878 (OA, dwgs. in the D. Collection, D. 1834-39)
BRANTFORD, ONT., residence for George H. Wilkes, Chatham Street near Clarence Street, 1879 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 27 June 1879, 2, t.c.)
(with John Turner) BRANTFORD, ONT., indoor Skating & Curling Rink, 1879 (Daily Expositor [Brantford], 14 Aug. 1879, 4, t.c.)
ST. MARYS, ONT., Methodist Church, Church Street at Elgin Street, 1879 (St. Marys Argus, 27 Feb. 1879, 3, descrip.; 25 Dec. 1879, 2, descrip.; Christian Guardian [Toronto], 7 Jan. 1880, 7, descrip.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., major additions and alterations to commercial block for Frank Cockshutt, Market Street at Colborne Street, 1882 (Brantford Weekly Expositor, 17 Nov. 1882, 4, descrip.; and 22 Dec. 1882, 6, descrip., but lacking attribution to the architect)
AYR, ONT., The Gore, a mansion and coach house for David Goldie, Northumberland Street, 1883; mansion partly demol. in 1922; remaining portion demol. 2018; coach house still standing in 2022 (Globe [Toronto], 24 May 1883, 6, t.c.; inf. North Dumfries Historical Preservation Society)
ST. GEORGE, ONT., residence for S.B. Lawrason, 1885 (Daily Expositor [Brantford], 26 March 1885, news item, 4; Weekly Expositor (Brantford). 27 March 1885, 5, t.c.)
NORWICH, ONT., Methodist Church, Main Street West at Clyde Street, 1885-86; still standing in 2022 (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 17 Feb. 1886, 4, descrip.)