Sunday 19 May 2019

What happened to Margaret Mary Carroll?

My current genealogy challenge is finding out what happened to the children of my great-great-grandfather, Maurice Carroll. He had five children with his first wife, Mary Anne Frazer, and ten with my great-great-grandmother, Anne Radcliffe. Some of his children seemingly vanished after migrating from Dublin to North East England and my goal is to find out what happened to them.


Margaret Carroll was the youngest of the ten children born to my great-great-grandparents. She survived childhood, followed some of her elder siblings to North East England, and married, supposedly twice. I lost track of her after her first marriage. 

But, here’s what I 'know':- 

The early years
Margaret Mary Carroll was born at Buckingham Buildings, Dublin city, on 23 September 1893 and baptised, two days later, in the Pro-Cathedral, in Marlborough Street. In 1901, aged seven years, she was living with her parents and four of her older siblings, at 20 North Gloucester Place, Dublin city. She attended school. Her father was employed as a coachman. The family shared their one-roomed home with a boarder, presumably to earn a few extra shillings to help make ends meet.

Margaret’s father died of lung cancer on 6 January 1906, when Margaret was only twelve. In 1911, Maggie, as she was then called, was living with her mother, her eldest sister Mary, her sister Teresa Wynne, and two infant nephews Maurice and Brendan Wynne. Then seventeen years of age, she worked as a shop girl. 

Marriage(s)
A note added to her baptism register indicates Margaret married Christopher Penrose at St Joseph’s Church in Gateshead on Tyne, England, on 9 May 1923.

Source: IrishGenealogy.ie

And, the marriage of Margaret M. Carroll and Christopher Penrose, in Gateshead, during the second quarter of 1923, was vouched against the civil registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales. 

Christopher’s death, indicated by the letters ‘R.I.P.’ beside his name in the baptism register, was also corroborated by the deaths index. He died in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, at the age of fifty-five years, during the first quarter of 1934, leaving Margaret a widow, aged forty. There is no obvious record the couple had any children. 

And, that’s where I lost all documented trace of Margaret (Carroll) Penrose, despite a second marriage being recorded in the baptism register. According to this note, Margaret remarried in Hornsea, Yorkshire on 15 November 1949. But her new husband’s name was not provided and no record of the marriage has been found. 

Source: IrishGenealogy.ie

The marriages index for England and Wales (at FreeBMD.org.uk) shows only one lady named Margaret Penrose marrying in the final quarter of 1949, and she was Margaret A. Penrose, not Margaret M. Penrose, and she lived in Cornwall, 350 miles from Yorkshire. 

I also tried to catch up with my great-grandaunt in the 1939 National Register of England and Wales. But there was only one Margaret Penrose born within two years of 1893, in all England. She was also a widow, working as the manageress in an off-licence, and was born on 24 Sep 1893, just one day after our Margaret. Could this have been my great-grandaunt?

Source: Findmypast

This lady was found in Hornchurch, Essex, not in Hornsea, Yorkshire and she seemingly lived with someone born after 1918, though that record is currently closed. She married Martin Parsons in Romford, near Hornchurch, during the second quarter of 1943, not during the final quarter of 1949. 

So, what really happened to Margaret Mary (Carroll) Penrose after Christopher died? 


If you have any idea, or know anything else about her, please let me know. Blackraven.genealogy[at]gmail[dot]com

2 comments:

  1. These family mysteries. We all have them. I hope you can find out what happened to your Margaret.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Diane. Without the mysteries, genealogy wouldn't be half as much fun ;-)

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!