A FORMER Newquay guesthouse owner famed for 'introducing Cornish pasties to Huddersfield' in the Thirties has died aged 105.
Phyllis Mellor was known across Cornwall for her delicious pasties, and had hundreds queuing outside her home for the tasty treats when she moved to Yorkshire.
Known as the 'Queen of the Cornish Pasty', Phyllis died at Shaws Wood Residential Care Home in Strood, Kent, on November 19, just a few weeks before her 106th birthday.
She was born on a farm in Chacewater, and opened a popular guesthouse in Newquay with two of her six sisters in the Twenties.
Son John said: "Her Cornish pasties were to die for. In 1936 I think she must have been the first person to introduce Cornish pasties to Huddersfield.
"Every week I remember her making about 100 and people queuing up at the door for them.
"Now there are Cornish pasty shops all over Yorkshire and in most towns and cities around the country."
Phyllis learnt the secret of making the perfect pasty, as well as clotted cream, while living on the farm with her father, Ernest Matthews.
As a Sunday school teacher, she met future husband Arthur at a conference in London before marrying the "love of her life" and settling down in Huddersfield for 30 years from 1936.
The couple had two children, John and Jennifer, five grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
During the Second World War, while Arthur was serving with the RAF, Phyllis took in a German Jewish couple who had fled Hitler's Germany.
In 1966 the couple moved back to Cornwall, to Redruth, where Arthur was employed at Rodda's Cornish Cream factory.
Phyllis always enjoyed travelling and in 1975 visited two of her grandchildren in Africa. A devout Christian, she was always kindhearted and generous, said John.
He added: "She was always full of energy and said her long life was the result of hard work. She loved having the family around her and was much loved by her great grandchildren.
"Wherever she lived she had the capacity to build long-lasting friendships.
"She was a wonderful mother who always wanted the best for her children.
"She was a very active lady who lived life to the full. The seven sisters were always very close – when they got together they seemed to be able to all talk at once and yet have a meaningful conversation."
