A DARWEN industrialist once thought to be related to the Royal Family is among those who will be dug up to make way for a new £4million road in Blackburn.

James Greenway, the 10th person to be buried in St Peter's cemetery in 1822, founded a company that later became Crown Wallcoverings in Darwen.

And he once had his portrait painted by the official artist to the Royal Family.

He was dubbed "Darwen's first industrialist" after he introduced the technique of calico printing, a technique involving dying cloth, to the town, and had a pub named after him.

But his roots always remained unclear, and he has been called "a man of mystery" in a local history book.

Tony Foster, of Lancashire Family History Society, is to give a talk on Mr Greenway in Blackburn in the New Year.

He said research by the businessman's descendants suggested he had been the illegitimate son of Frederik, Prince of Wales, the son of King George II.

But Mr Foster said he was "99 per cent" sure they were mistaken - although he did not know for certain who Mr Greenway's father was.

He said: "Certainly there's nothing we've found that supports that.

"He was illegitimate, but we haven't been able to prove conclusively who his father was.

"He seemed to be a man of extreme influence, and bought expensive gifts for his family and friends.

"He wasn't short of a bob or two. He must have been a man of some importance."

Retired lecturer Melvyn Hirst, whose family is from Darwen but now lives in Coventry, has spent the past nine years researching Mr Greenway, and said he would welcome the chance to test the man's DNA if he was dug up.

He said: "It would be a major problem getting a sample of DNA from James Greenway's descendants - so getting one from the man himself would be perfect."

Mr Hirst, who is in the process of writing three papers on Mr Greenway, said Mr Greenway established a calico printing works at Livesey Fold about three miles to the south of Blackburn in 1777.

After his death in 1822 the business moved away from calico printing and into the manufacture and staining of wallpaper, and by the late 1830s it was established at Belgrave Mill in the centre of Darwen.

After various mergers and takeovers the business finally became part of the Crown Products Group.

Mr Hirst added: "Had it not been for Greenway it is highly unlikely that Crown would have happened in the town at all."

Relatives living in Australia have asked for him to be reburied in Darwen, and Mr Hirst, whose father was born in Darwen, said he hoped the headstone would be preserved when it was dug up.