MELLING. (from Appendix K in the main text)
Courtesy of Billinge History Society.

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 child.
Margaret's husband's surname was named Ashall and their three boys were christened John, James
and Thomas. Mary's husband was Robert Ormeshire, their children 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.

Richard's wife's christian name was Sarah and their five children were John Thomas (1864-12/10/1925),
who became a butcher, Margaret, Ellen, Elizabeth Ann and Richard. Of Richard and Sarah's three
daughters I know nothing but one of their sons, another Richard, 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. Richard and Sarah's other son, John Thomas (1864-1925), had
two sons, Richard (born 1891) and Francis (born 1893) and a daughter, Ellen (born 1895). Ellen married
William Atherton and they were 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.

The maiden name of Sarah (1842-1892), wife of Richard Melling (1838-1887), 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 when it was still at the bottom
of Longshaw Old Road, before the present pub was built in 1907. They had daughters named Sarah
and Margaret and it could be that John was the brother of Thomas (1804-1854), making Richard and
Sarah cousins.