Hello Paul andKaren, This is a long shot--but Melling is a famous name for bread.There used to be one of their bakeries in Queen st Farnworth ,my sister lived in the house next door to it. I am finding in my research that lots of people started out in Wigan and when the Bridgewater canals were being built lots of people followed it down to other places to make money-----could this have happened to Mellings,not sure of the spelling. Best Wishes Lynda