Characters

Austin Melia (Senior)

Born in 1870 in St. Helens, Lancashire. Austin’s father, also an Edward, could not read or write but encouraged his children in their education. Edward moved his family to Farnworth, near Bolton, during the 1870s and most of his children grew up, and were educated, in the Bolton area. Austin would probably have received his engineering tuition at the Mechanics Institute in Bolton (eventually evolved into the University of Bolton) which had opened in 1868. After qualifying in steam engineering, and marrying Emma, they moved to the Stockport and Middleton area, before eventually returning to Bolton just after the end of WW1. Austin was regarded as a ‘brilliant’ steam engineer and spent the last eighteen years of his life at the Dart and Alexandria Mills in Bolton. The retirement clock he received in still in the possession of the family.

Emma Melia

Of a similar age to Austin, Emma was an intelligent and astute woman. The daughter of a Little Lever slate merchant, she was brought-up in the Anglican faith but converted to Catholicism prior to marrying Austin. Emma gained a grounding in commercial matters through her father’s business activities and was known to have her fingers on the pulse of Melia’s Transport, especially in its early years.

Edward Melia

The eldest of the three children of Austin and Emma, Edward had a somewhat wayward nature. Edward or ‘Ted’s’ war record has been difficult to conclusively establish, and he was prone to embellishing the truth. He spent his very limited WW1 service under military lorries and may not have even seen the front line. The opposite sex did appear to be drawn to him, and many of the stories about Ted relate to the woman in his life, of which there were more than mentioned in the book. The ‘Bastardy Order’ is a recorded fact, but there were also rumours that he had at least one other child out of wedlock, as well as the one with Evelyn. Catherine disliked him for a number of reasons: his rejection of Catholicism, his many affairs, but most of all for the ‘shame’ the court case brought upon the family.

Annie Melia

In many respects Annie had a rather unfulfilled life. She was very much under the influence of Emma during her younger years, and the premature death of her fiancée during the Dunkirk evacuation almost broke her. Annie was unfortunate in contracting kidney disease at a time when treatments were still rudimentary and generally ineffective. She doted on Austin (Junior) and Gerard Melia, and eventually left them her estate.

Thomas Melia

If Edward was the ‘Black Sheep’ of the family (Catherine’s terminology), then Thomas was more on the white side, or at least grey. He actively supported Catherine’s pursuit of Catholicism and encouraged his children to follow the Church’s teaching; both were raised as Catholics. In contrast to Edward he stayed married to Catherine and was known to disapprove of much of his brother’s lifestyle. However, the glue of having a business kept them together; Thomas always recognised that Edward was family, whatever his faults.

Catherine Melia

Catherine Melia (Byrne) was of Irish stock and was a staunch Catholic. Both Annie and Catherine were prone to ‘gifting’ household items to the newly established Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton. The candlesticks and rug anecdotes referred to in the book are both true stories. There was tension between her and Edward and this manifested itself in her defacing family photos during her brother-in-law’s court case. Fortunately, one or two memories of Edward still survive, passed through the generations via other family members.

Austin (Junior) and Gerard Melia

The two surviving children of Thomas and Catherine Melia. As adults, Austin and Gerard Melia followed their parent’s generation and formed a partnership in the motor trade, buying, selling and repairing new and used cars. Their business started at Belmont Filling Station in the early 1950s and the partnership finally dissolved in the early 1980s, another thirty-year chronicle of fortune, folly and family. Austin’s interest in WW2 U.S jeeps and other military equipment, and his proclivity for wearing army clothing made him a particularly recognisable character in the Bolton and Wigan area. Gerard Melia married Patricia Glover and they had five sons, of which I am one (Ged Melia).

 

Other characters

John Melia

Brother of Austin Melia (Senior). He also lived in Farnworth and was noted for being taken as a PoW during WW1.

John Byrne

Brother of Catherine Melia and believed to be the family member Catherine was closest to.

Gladys Melia

There are no photographs of Gladys, or of Mary. Gladys disappeared from the family archives only a few years after Edward married her. Their daughter, Mary, loosely stayed in touch with the family until the 1950s. Mary’s name had been forgotten about until she died intestate during the early 2000s. But for a small bequest unexpectedly appearing a couple of years later, she might have been completely lost to memory. Edward never divorced Gladys. Whether this was an oversight, or a vestigial element of his Catholicism will never be known.

Evelyn Whittam

Edward’s affair produced a son, another ‘Edward’ but it is doubtful he and Evelyn had much contact after the 1925 Bastardy Order. Whether he did or did not contact his son in later life is unknown.

Marcella Vanderhoff

Very little is known about Marcella. She was a nightclub singer in London and did live with Edward in Bolton for a few years.

Mary Nuttall

Edward lived with Mary in a house in Tottington, on the road to Bury in Lancashire. She stayed with Edward for the rest of his relatively short life following his release from Wakefield Prison. Edward left her his somewhat shrunken estate on his death.      

Austin Melia family photo taken during the early 1920s. Emma and Austin Melia (back row); Thomas Melia (centre) and Catherine Melia/Byrne, Edward Melia and Annie Melia (front row).

Edward Melia (left) and Thomas Melia taken prior to WW1.

Thomas Melia in naval uniform during WW1.

Catherine Melia taken during the early 1920s.

From left to right. Thomas Melia, Emma Melia, Gerard Melia, Catherine Melia and one of the few surviving photos of Edward Melia. Taken during early WW2.

Austin Melia (Junior) behind Gerard Melia. Taken late 1930s.

Thomas Melia family just after WW2. Left to right, Thomas Melia, Gerard Melia, Austin Melia and Catherine Melia.

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo