Fort George burial will be first since war

FORMER ADC and secretary to the Lt-Governor Michael Mellish will be buried at Fort George Military Cemetery. It will be the first time since the Second World War that someone will be laid to rest at the site.

Captain Mellish requested to be buried at the cemetery because he had spent several decades living nearby at Belvedere House.

The Bailiff, the Lt-Governor and the War Graves Commission all approved the proposal.

States Property Services manager John Silvester was delighted that Capt. Mellish would be laid to rest so close to his home.

'The War Graves Commission approved it about six months ago and we're thrilled because he was a very dignified man,' he said.

The department is responsible for the Fort George Military Cemetery and Belvedere House.

'The reason he is being buried there is because he spent many years in Belvedere House, so he had never really left the garrison,' Mr Silvester added.

'It was requested by his family, but also by him while he was still alive.

'I went to see him quite regularly and he asked me.

'Captain Mellish was our tenant for many years and everyone at States Property Services got to know him very well and we will miss him greatly.'

Mr Silvester said the War Graves Commission had no hesitation in allowing Capt. Mellish to be buried at the war cemetery.

'It's an honour for him but, of course, he was the last remaining officer from the garrison.'

Mr Silvester confirmed that the States would now look to sell Belvedere House.

'In 1995 the States decided it would sell the house if it ever became available,' he said.

'We will be going to the States to look at a number of properties and we will include Belvedere in that.'

Healthspan founder Derek Coates, who lived in the house as a teenager, said it was a magnificent home.

'I was there when I was 15 for three years because my dad was a States engineer,' he said.

'When we arrived from England, he was given a house.

'It was divided into two.

'We had one side and Michael Mellish had the other.

'For a kid from the north of England it was as if I had moved into millionaires' row.'

n Capt. Mellish's funeral will take place on Friday at the Town Church.