Henry Francis Mellish

Henry Mellish was born on 3 June 1782, the second son of Charles Mellish of Blyth. He first appears in the list of officers of the 10th Hussars in 1805 as a lieutenant. By 1809 his name had disappeared. He was the first officer of the regiment to serve in the Peninsula as he was appointed ADC to Sir Ronald Ferguson in the army of 12,300 men sent to Portugal. This was the expedition led by Sir Arthur Wellesley following Sir Sidney Smith’s successful naval action at Lisbon. They landed on 1 Aug 1808, and fought battles at Rorica and Vimiera before the French proposed a conference resulting in the Convention of Cintra. He also served as Assistant Adjutant General to Wellesley in the later stage of the Peninsula War, and was at Talavera, Busaco, Badajos, Fuentes d’Onore and Salamanca. He was a talented soldier and was given the task of writing up despatches.
At one stage there was a report that he had been captured by the enemy. Wellesley is reported to have said, “They’ll not keep him long.” The next day he was seen riding into camp on a donkey for which he was ridiculed by his fellow officers. They teased him that his ‘charger’ was not worth 5 pounds. He was so stung by the remark that he declared, “I’ll make it worth 35 pounds before long.” At which he mounted up and rode towards the enemy lines. The other officers followed at a safe distance to see what he was going to do. As he neared the French he was fire on and the donkey was shot. It is unclear how he managed to avoid being shot himself, but he found his way back on foot and put in a claim for 35 pounds which was the going rate for an officer’s horse.
Whilst in the Peninsula he was appointed equerry to the Prince of Wales. After Salamanca he returned to England and lived at Hodsock Priory, Nottinghamshire. His elder brother Joseph Charles Mellish had been disinherited for his extravagance so on the death of the father in 1797, Henry became the owner of Blyth Hall and Hodsock. It seems that he was little better than his brother because he had to sell Blyth to pay off his own gambling debts. He was an expert judge of horses and was a keen race-horse owner, winning the St Leger two years running. But he was also a jockey. One story claimed that when a rider was thrown during a race, Mellish caught the horse, jumped in its back and brought him in second at the finish. He was a celebrity of the time and hosted royalty at his house. The Prince of Wales and Duke of Clarence were said to have spent a fortnight at Blyth Hall in 1806. He kept open house during the Doncaster meeting. Other talents of his were cattle breeding, painting and playing musical instruments. He reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel and was married to Harriet but they had no children. He died on 24 July 1817 at the age of 35. His estate passed to his sister Anne Chambers.
The portrait is by Ben Marshall, depicting Henry Mellish when he was a captain. It had been owned by The Reverend Edward Mellish, Dean of Hereford, and was sold at Christies in 1966 and again in 1996 with an estimate of 40,000 to 60,000 pounds. Captain Mellish wears the uniform of the 10th Hussars c1806.

Regimental Details | Soldiers