Standish is an area and a village a few km north of Wigan town centre. It includes Langtree to the west and Standish Lower Ground to the south. Many of our ancestors lived in Standish and many are buried in St. Wilfrid’s churchyard there. The Harrison family seems to have originated from nearby Coppull, however John Harrison was a farmer in Standish at the time of his marriage to Jemima Whittle in 1812. Henry Ball and Betty Ormishaw settled in Standish, probably for about 20 years from about 1805. As Standish was not a very big place (pop. 2,000 in 1821) it is almost certain that John Harrison and Henry Ball were acquainted many years before their grandchildren married.
Several children of Henry and Betty were born in Standish, from John (1806) to Daniel (1813). A number of Henry and Betty’s sons also settled in Standish or Standish Lower Ground in the middle of the 19th century (Edward, John, Henry, Daniel) and a large number of the next generation Ball family were therefore also born in Standish. Henry Ball (b. 1811) was the innkeeper of the Royal Oak Inn in Standish Lower Ground in the mid-19th century.
Many years later, around 1890, Joseph Harrison and his son Edward both got jobs working for (and living at) the Wigan municipal waterworks in Standish. The waterworks established a pumping station at the reservoir at Boar’s Head, Standish and Joseph and Edward both worked there. Edward Harrison was living at the pumping station when he died of rabies in 1894. His wife Martha also died there that year and Joseph, by then a widow, moved to Boar’s Head to care for Edward’s orphaned children.
This website provides a good description of Standish. If you find the 1869 Standish directory on this site you will find Daniel Ball is listed as a shoemaker in Standish in 1869 and his brother Henry is listed as the proprietor of the Royal Oak Inn.