Mary Mellish
A white woman wearing a white garment loosely draped around her shoulders; her hair is in an updo.
Mary Mellish Archibald, from a 1905 publication.
Born(1849-01-27)27 January 1849
Pownal, Prince Edward Island, British North America
Died9 January 1901(1901-01-09) (aged 51)
New York City, New York, U.S.
NationalityCanadian
Other namesMary Mellish Archibald
Occupation(s)Educator, writer
ChildrenRaymond Clare Archibald

Mary Mellish (27 January 1849 – 9 January 1901), later Mary Mellish Archibald, was an educator from Prince Edward Island, best known for her long association with women's education at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick.

Early life

Mary Mellish was born in Pownal, Prince Edward Island, the daughter of James Lewis Mellish and Margaret Sophia Murray. She trained as a teacher at the normal school in Charlottetown. She earned her teaching licence in 1864. For the next five years she taught intermittently and worked for a time as a governess.[1] She pursued further studies at Mount Allison Wesleyan Academy, Female Branch, in Sackville, New Brunswick.[2][3] and graduated in 1867 with a Mistress of Liberal Arts diploma (MLA).

Career

Mellish served as teacher and Preceptress of the Mount Allison Wesleyan Female Academy, from 1869 to 1873. She left the classroom to marry, but returned to teaching when she became a widow in 1883 and sole supporter of her young son. She resumed her position as Preceptress at the Mount Allison Ladies' Academy in 1885, and stayed at Sackville for sixteen years, working with Principal Byron Crane Borden to improve the school.[2][4]

Beyond her school leadership work, Mellish was active in temperance work and other Methodist Church activities.[2]

Personal life and legacy

Mary Mellish married fellow educator Abram Newcomb Archibald in 1874. They had a son, Raymond Clare Archibald (1875-1955),[5] who became a noted mathematician and historian of mathematics.[6] Abram Archibald died from typhoid in 1883. Mary Mellish Archibald died from pneumonia in January 1901 in New York City, a few weeks before her 52nd birthday.[2][7]

The Mary Mellish Archibald Library of Folklore at Mount Allison University was begun by her son in 1905, as a memorial gift to the school.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ John G. Reid. "MELLISH, MARY (Archibald)".
  2. 1 2 3 4 Reid, John G. "Biography – Mary Mellish". Volume XIII (1901-1910) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  3. ↑ "Pages Through the Ages: Mary Mellish Archibald". Mount Allison University. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  4. ↑ J. G. Reid, “The education of women at Mount Allison, 1854–1914” Acadiensis (Fredericton), 12 (1982–83), no.2: 3–33; Mount Allison.
  5. ↑ Guthery, Scott B. (2012). Bibliography of Raymond Clare Archibald. Docent Press. pp. xv. ISBN 978-0-9837004-2-5.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, J. J.; Robertson, E. F. "Raymond Archibald (1875 - 1955)". School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  7. ↑ Hopkins, J. Castell (1901). "Education in Canada". Morang's Annual Register of Canadian Affairs. 1: 355.
  8. ↑ Lilburn, Jeff. "Mary Mellish Archibald Memorial Library of Folklore". Mount A Libraries. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  9. ↑ "Pages Through the Ages: Mary Mellish Archibald Memorial Library (MMAML)". Mount Allison University. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  • "Renvoyé" (1873), a poem by Mary Mellish, published in Acadiensis 5(1905).
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