Reference to the name Ball recorded in Long Melford appear occasionally in the eighteenth century, however the first substantive reference to be found occurs when George and Mary Ball made their home in the village in the 1860s. By the end of the century the family disappears from the record. The only other reference to a Ball living in Melford comes from Kelly's Directory for Suffolk in 1916 which lists John Henry Ball as the landlord of the Black Lion Inn in Westgate Street. This gentleman does not appear to be related to the earlier family.