Wigan Genealogy

My GG Grandfather John Field lodged with the Higgins Family of King Street, Lowton and Pennington, when orphaned at the age of 4 in 1840. In 1854 at age 19 John emigrated to South Australia. We know lots about the Field family after John came to Australia, but virtually nothing about his family in England before 1854. All we know is that John's father's name was James Boardman. If anyone has any information about John or any Fields of the Leigh area, about James Boardman, or about the Higgins family that took John in, I would be very interested to hear from you.