Thank you so much all for all the replies and thoughts. It sounds as if it could be feasible and worth keeping this family in mind though there is no obvious connection (I was hoping for a marriage witness to cross over!).
I think both of the men in question were quite far removed from their father’s occupation of Spinner/Cloth Manufacturer by the time they gave that info and we are talking 1840s rather than 1870s.
Here is the detail for those that are curious, though it is mostly London.
John Meller, born c1807 John Meller died 25th January 1851 at Felix Street Lambeth, just before the 1851 census. His age was 44 and he was a "hawker of brooms".
He was buried 2nd Feb 1851 in Saint John the Evangelist Lambeth.
The death cert is slightly strange as there was an inquest (at Kingston) and the coroner was the informant. The death was formally registered in the May (so Q2 rather than Q1). I’ve looked for details of the inquest in the papers but can’t find anything.
For more about this, see:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=184669.msg899081#msg899081When he married in Dec 1845 Lambeth to Margaret Mason Bradley, he was a widower and a Hawker. Father's details: Charles Meller, Spinner. He lived at James Street, Lambeth. This is my first known sighting of John.
He then has three children with Margaret:
• Sarah Elizabeth (1847)
• John William (1848-1849)
• Margaret Hannah (1851) – born after his death, 8 days old in census
I'd like to find John in 1841, but I get stuck on how to confirm it's the right one I don’t have a lot to pin to him. Either he has to be single or already widowed, or if he's married, that wife has to die before 1845. Unfortunately, he could be just about anywhere and worse, the name is often transcribed Miller! There are also a lot more Meller/Mellors in other areas than in Lambeth!
As a side effort, I started looking at other Mellers living in the Lambeth area to see if I could find anyone related and found James Meller.
James Meller, born c 1797James Meller marries Lydia Price in Paddington in 1837. He is a Carpenter. He gives his father’s name as Charles Meller, Cloth Manuafacturer.
He was a widower.
He moves to Kent (for 1841), and is in Southwark/Lambeth from 1851 through to his death in 1875 (in the Workhouse).
He gives his birthplace as Leeds. His son, Charles James Meller, (present in Kent in 1841) gives his place of birth as Rastrick. I believe from the Rastrick PR, the mother is Mary.
Lots of Lambeth/Newington Mellers descend from James’ line. On John’s side, Sarah Elizabeth and Margaret Hannah go on to marry and have children but obviously the Meller surname disappears from there.