In his final year at King’s Stuart Melville was a School Prefect, the Captain of the First Fifteen Rugby team, a member of the First Cricket Eleven and a Warrant Officer in the School Cadet Corps. He was also the Intermediate School athletics champion and had the fastest time in the Intermediate School Cross Country. He represented Otago in the New Zealand Junior Athletics Championship held in Auckland.

In the School Athletics Sports Stuart equalled the Intermediate 1943, 100 yards record, bettered the 1944, Intermediate 220 yards record and set a new record for the Intermediate Mile. In the Otago Secondary School Cross Country Stuart finished first. He won a well-earned selection to the South Island Secondary Schools Rugby team. Stuart gained a School Blue in Athletics, Rugby, Cross Country Running, and Cricket.

On leaving School Stuart attended the University of Otago where he completed a Batchelor of Commerce Degree. He joined the University Athletics Club and continued his athletic successes winning the Otago Junior 880 yards and Mile title. He was a member of the Otago Junior Athletics team. The University Club set a race record in the 1971 Lovelock Relay where Stuart was a member of a six-man team. Also, in 1971 an attempt was made on the New Zealand 4x800m Relay at the old Caledonian Ground in Dunedin. The all-Otago team of Stuart Melville, Bruce Hunter, Stephen Lunn and Dick Tayler set a long-standing national record for the event.

At the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch Stuart represented New Zealand, competing in the 800m. Stuart joined the Caversham Harrier and Athletics Club where he continued his Otago Representative success in winning the New Zealand 3-mile title at the New Zealand Championships in 1975.

In July 1975 he competed in the IAAF Super Grand Prix International Athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. He raced in the 1500 metres with a good time of 3 minutes 40.03 seconds. Stuart retired from competitive running in 1977.

Stuart now runs the firm of Stuart Melville Chartered Accountants a small Dunedin chartered accountancy firm specialising in small to medium businesses. The firm is committed to delivering a personal service tailor-made to suit individual needs. There are offices in Dunedin and Mosgiel that carry out accounting, bookkeeping, auditing activities and tax consultancy. The firm is or was associated with 28 or more companies and has share holdings in 10 or more companies.

Stuart has devoted his time freely to a number of organisations. He was a member of the Dunedin Rotary Club. He was on the Board of Trustees of King’s High School ten years – nine of these as Chairman. This was at a time when major school redevelopment was taking place and special care of finance was required. Stuart and the Board played an important role in the setting up and financing of the School Hostel. 

The building of the new two storied classroom block on the site of the old school hall was set in motion. The Board had to make allocations from a government grant to buy furniture for seven new classrooms. By 1995 the board put in considerable effort to gain funding for the new Technology Suite. Funding was not approved until 1996 and the board had to work hard to see the funding gained. Tenders were considered and the building was completed in 1997. The Warrington “Classroom at the Sea” received resource consent and planning and financial implications were worked on by the Board. Stuart’s leadership of the Board overseeing some very major progress in the school’s development through some difficult times is a credit to his determination and ability.