John Charles Melliss

John Charles Melliss (23 January 1835 – 23 August 1910) was a British engineer and amateur naturalist.

In 1871, because of government cutbacks, he was made redundant and returned to London, where he subsequently formed the firm of J.C. Melliss and Co.

[1] In 1875, he published the book for which he is best known: St. Helena: A Physical, Historical and Topographical Description of the Island, Including the Geology, Fauna, Flora and Meteorology.

[3]Melliss inspired Thomas Vernon Wollaston, a noted beetle specialist, to visit St Helena with his wife Edith in 1875-76.

Wollaston studied the beetles in Coleoptera Sanctæ-Helenæ (1875) while his wife wrote an account of the moths of the island.