The Mellins of Wickham Hall
Members with long memories will recall a talk in March 2008 about Victorian millionaire baby-milk powder manufacturer, Gustav Mellin, who built himself a very large house, Wickham Hall, in West Wickham. The talk by Peter Leigh was reported in the June issue of Bromleag which you can find here.

In May 2019 we received some photographs from Rupert Battersby taken by his great-aunt Edith who had stayed at Wickham Hall with her parents (and her camera) around the year 1900. These passed to her daughter Rita (now aged 97) who in turn has passed them on to the next generation. Mellin was a typical Victorian entrepreneur, making money, losing it and making it again in a world-wide baby-milk powder business based in Peckham. He also had a brother, Lassen, who was an agent for Rupert's family hat business in Stockport.

It appears the Lassen Mellin and William Battersby and his family had travelled back together from Brussels - Lassen lived in the Avenue Louise - and stayed for a time at Wickham Hall where these photos were taken.  Peter Leigh has kindly provided some more photographs (marked PL) from his collection which may well have been taken about the same time. What little information is known about the pictures is included below.

Like the Mellins, the Battersbys were "new money", Rupert's great-grandmother having started at the age of 10 as a felt hat trimmer and married the son of a shop-keeper, William Battersby (Snr), who clearly had great ambition, and success, his business having the capacity to produce 12,000 hats a week and only finally closing completely in 1997. Their full story has been told by Rupert and copies can be obtained here. 

Some time after this page was created, we were contacted by Chris Pilley who was researching his grandfather, John James Pilley (1860-1938), a director of Mellins Foods in Peckham from the late 1890s.


In the adjoining photograph, left to right, are John PIlley, his brother Thomas, Gustav Mellin, his son Eric (probably) and Mellin's father-in-law, Mr. Bliss. The identity of the elegant gentleman standing behind them is unknown.


Our thanks to Chris for the picture.