Joseph William Mellor CBE FRS[1] (1868–1938) was an English chemist and an authority on ceramics who grew up in New Zealand.
In 1910 the separate towns which make up Stoke-on-Trent federated, and a decision was made to build a technical college, which opened in 1914 with Mellor as Principal.
Although offered a peerage for his contribution towards the war effort, Mellor turned it down saying that he had freely given his scientific knowledge to help his country because ill-health prevented him joining the army and fighting in France.
[6] Mellor's publications include a sixteen-volume work published in 1922, entitled A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry.
"[8] In 1927 Mellor became only the second person to be elected to the Royal Society[1] for work related to ceramics, the first having been Josiah Wedgwood in the eighteenth century.