Dame Nellie Melba may have travelled the world, lived in many hotels and leased many different homes but her family were always on her mind and in her thoughts. In her book about her grand-mother, Pamela Vestey has included many letters home to her son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter.

Her father David Mitchell and her brothers, sisters and their families were important to Melba and gave her a strong sense of who she was.

To trace Melba’s own marriage to Charles Armstrong and the life of her only child George, go to Biography.