Brother
Richard Guy Mellin
(died April 1931)
Temple Lodge, No. 33
Here is a brief biographical sketch of Brother Richard Guy Mellin taken from local newspaper reports of his death and funeral:
“Mellin - Mr. Richard Guy Mellin, Lakes Road, died on Saturday afternoon at the King's Daughters' Hospital. He had been ill for a long time and death came as a release.
He is survived by Mrs. Mellin, the eldest daughter ofMr. James Robertson, "Hartree," near Duncan, and by two sons, Jack and Arthur, and one daughter, Nell. His eldest son, Dick, died about a month before him.
Mr. Mellin was born in Manchester, England, on March x 18xx, the son of Mr. and Mrs. V. de M Mellin. He was educated as a mining engineer.
He came to Duncan in [illegible] and engaged for four years in farming, logging and survey work.
At the opening of the Yukon gold rush in 1898 he became assistant purser on the S.S. Ning-Chow and after two voyages took over the management of F.C. Davige and Co.'s business in the Wrangel and Stikine districts.
At the end of the rush he went to Atlin and helped to establish a townsite there. During the following year he prospected claims he had staked in [illegible].
Returning to Duncan he took a prominent part in the development of the famous Tyee Mine on Mount Sicker. He was a member of for [illegible] years and became assistant superintendent and field assessor.
When the mine closed he conducted exploration and development work at Sooke, Whitehorse, Queen Charlotte Islands, Sidney Inlet, Lynn Valley, Prince of Wales Island, the Gulf Islands, Alaska, Texada Island and the Squamish River.
In 1911, Mr. Mellin settled at Sooke, where he was instrumental in centralizing the district and establishing the Sooke Harbour Water Company. He also started a comprehensive scheme for the dredging and deepening of Sooke Harbour at the entrance, for which preliminary surveys were carried out by the Dominion government.
But the outset of the war stopped these activities and in 191[illegible] he returned to mining and opened up the Willow Grouse and Blue Grouse mines.
In 19[illegible] he joined the staff of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company, with which he remained for some years, engaged in mining surveys and exploration, ranging from the Peace River to Vancouver Island and the Portland Canal.
More recently he was associated with Hyder Lead Mines, Pacific Tidewater Mines, and was manager of the Georgia River Mines.
Mr. Mellin was a member of the Professional Engineers Association of British Columbia and of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
He had an office in Victoria and belonged to the Union Club there as well as to the Cowichan Country Club. He was also a Justice of the Peace and a member of Temple Lodge, A.F. & A.M., Duncan.
This Lodge took charge of the funeral on Tuesday afternoon, the pallbearers being Messrs. W.M. Dwyer, K.F. Duncan, H.F. Prevost, F.H. Price, Chris. Dobson and Thomas Pitt.
Archdeacon [illegible] conducted the service at St. Peter's Church, Quamichan, where many friends were present. "Fight The Good Fight" and "O God Our Help In Ages Past" were sung with Mr. W.A. Willett at the organ.
Arrangements for the funeral were in the hands of Mr. R.H. Whidden, Duncan."
Source: Cowichan Leader, 23 April 1931
