MELLING
(from Appendix K in the main text)
(note. We really could do with some help in sorting out the many different branches of the Melling family)
There exists a record of Richard and Betty Melling, born in the late 1760's and married in the late 1780's. I think that they were the parents of Thomas and possibly John Melling.
Thomas Melling (1st July 1804 - 4th March 1854) married a woman called Margaret who died 20th November 1883. They appear to have had five children; a boy, Richard 1838-1887, and four girls, Elizabeth, born 1828, Margaret, born 1833, Mary, born 1841 and Lydia, born 1850.
Elizabeth may never have married but there is a grandchild, Thomas Melling, mentioned in the 1861 census that may have been her illegitimate child.
Margaret's husband's surname was Ashall and their three boys were christened John, James and Thomas.
Mary's husband was Robert Ormeshire. Her son Robert married Elizabeth Melling, discussed below, and their children were Alice and Edward.
Lydia married William Robinson and together they made the long journey from Longshaw Common to Chadwick Green and gave this work its title. Their lives of their four children, two boys and two girls, are dealt with in the main body of this text. When Lydia came to Chadwick Green, three Melling children came with her, Harry, Thomas and Elizabeth. Harry Melling became the father of eight girls, a crippled son who died at the age of eleven and a son, Tom, who worked at Hitchen's Farm in Carr Mill Road for fifty-four years. Who the parents of these three children were is unclear at this stage. Their father may have been the grandchild Thomas, mentioned in the 1861 census and probably the son of Elizabeth, making Lydia their aunt. What is known is that the younger Elizabeth Melling, whoever her parents were, married Robert Ormeshire, the son of Lydia's sister Mary.
Richard's wife's christian name was Sarah (1842-1892). Her maiden name may have been Melling also. She appears to be the daughter of John Melling and Ellen nee Holland who lived at the Hare and Hounds. They were, I think, the proprietors of the Hare and Hounds at the bottom of Longshaw Old Road, before it was rebuilt by their grandson, John Thomas Melling (1864-1925), in 1907. John and Ellen had daughters named Sarah and Margaret and it could be that John was the brother of Thomas (1804-1854), making Richard and Sarah cousins.
Richard and Sarah had five children, John Thomas (1864-12/10/1925), who became a builder, Margaret, Ellen, Elizabeth Ann and Richard.
Margaret's husband, John Thomas Heaton was the landlord of the Queen's Arms in Sandbrook Rd, Orrell now known as Sandbrook Arms. Richard and Sarah's other daughters, Ellen and Elizabeth Ann, married the brothers of John Thomas Heaton - three sisters thereby marrying three brothers. Ellen married Henry and they became the first proprietors of the new Hare and Hounds. Elizabeth Ann married Fred Heaton, a miner.
Richard Melling was the father of Cyril, Ken and Winifred Melling. Ken Melling ran the garage in UpHolland Road, across from the Unicorn and is featured in 'One Man's Pitch' by David Young.
John Thomas Melling (1864-1925) built many of the houses in and around Longshaw. He and his sisters and brother lived in the old Hare and Hounds in Longshaw, later building the new Hare and Hounds around 1907. John Thomas' two sons Richard (1891) and Francis (1893) carried on the building firm known as J.T Melling & Sons. His daughter Ellen (1895) married William Atherton and they became the proprietors of the Eagle and Child on Church Brow. As this couple had no children they are not the parents of Irvine Atherton who was subsequently landlord of the same pub. Jane Atherton, sister of William Atherton, married Joseph Tinsley from Otterswift Farm. They lost two girls at birth and helped run the Eagle and Child for about 10 years. When William married Ellen Melling, Joe Tinsley went back to farming for a while then married again to Clara Edwards from Tarbuck House. They subsequently moved to Brownheath House and there were no kids by this marriage.
Francis Melling married Catherine Smith from Plane Tree Farm, Crank Road, and had one son, John, who died in 1979.
Richard Melling married Maggie Bradley from Sutches Farm, UpHolland and had two children, Elizabeth Anne and William. William married to Ethel Hitchmough and left 4 sons: Stephen, Andrew, John and Anthony when he died in 1973.
Elizabeth married Leslie Houghton in 1949 and had two children. Anne born 1952 married Ian Gaskell and has two daughters, Amy and Alison. David, born1955, married Lynn Sherrif. They have a son Gareth and daughter Bethany.