Monday 13 April 2020

On the far side of a brick Wall #2 ~ Mary Leonard and the Slatterys


On Saturday, I mentioned a girl named Mary Leonard, aged fifteen years, living in Liverpool, on the night of the English census, 6 June 1841. She was living with the Slattery family, at Emma Place, Liverpool city. Mary may have been my third-great-grandmother. That's my current ancestral hypothesis anyway.

The 1841 census didn't specify relationships between household members. So, it's not confirmed where exactly Mary fit in. The household head, Thomas Slattery, was thirty-five years old, born in Ireland, and worked as a labourer. Next listed was Mary Slattery, aged thirty years, also born in Ireland. Then came Mary Leonard, aged fifteen and born in Ireland. She was followed by Rosanna Slattery, aged five and Ellen Slattery, aged two, both born in Lancashire, and then John Slafferra, aged fifty and born in Ireland. He may have been a Slattery too, with his name either misheard, or mangled in the transcription to the census enumerators' book.

Slattery household, 1841 Census, Liverpool, Lancashire, England

It's easy to imagine that Thomas and Mary Slattery were husband and wife, that Mary Leonard was Thomas Slattery's stepdaughter and Mary's daughter from a previous marriage, and that Rosanna and Ellen were Thomas and Mary's children. It looks like Mary Slattery was only fifteen years old when Mary Leonard was born, except in this census, adults' ages were normally rounded down at five year intervals, e.g. 34 became 30, 38 became 35, etc. So, she was probably a few years older.

Rosanna Slattery was born about 1836, just too late for her birth to have been registered. Recording civil births, marriages and deaths commenced in 1837 in England. But, if she was born in Liverpool, a record of her baptism might have reasonably been expected, except no Rosanna Slattery was found.

Ellen Slattery's birth, in the first quarter of 1839, was registered in Liverpool, with her mother's maiden name recorded as Riley. She was baptised shortly thereafter, on 17 February 1839, in St Anthony's Roman Catholic Church, Liverpool. The baptism register confirms she was the daughter of Thomas Slattery and Mary Rielly, born on 12 February 1839.

Have I really just discovered the name of my fourth great-grandmother ~ Mary Riley (a variant of Reilly) 💛.  That would be so cool, even if she was another Mary!!!

But, will I ever be able to prove, or even disprove, it? Tune in next week to see how I get on.

Continued, here.

Sources:
  1. Slattery household, Ellen Place, Liverpool, Lancashire, Enumerators' Book, 1841 England Census, accessed $ Ancestry.co.uk.
  2. Birth of Ellen, 1839 M Quarter, Liverpool, GRO Online Index, accessed HM Passport Office.
  3. Baptism of Ellen Slattery, St Anthony's Church, 'Liverpool, England, Catholic Baptisms, 1802-1906', accessed $ Ancestry.co.uk.

8 comments:

  1. I can't wait to read what you turn next week. I have absolutely no experience with English research. It's interesting to read how you are working this out.

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  2. Thanks Cathy, it's keeping me interested for sure, English research, at least in Liverpool, is not too unlike Irish research, except English census returns survive and civil registrations started earlier. People still seemingly vanish into thin air!

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  3. Reads like a Genealogical mystery. Nathan Dylan Goodwin move over!

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    1. Thank you! but I seriously doubt there's a hidden fortune, or secrets worth killing over. LOL.

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  4. Fabulous Dara! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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    1. Thanks Ellie, and I'm afraid I'll come up empty-handed :-)))

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  5. Forgive me if I've missed a step in your story (I can barely keep up with my own family lineage) but do you know if Mary Riley/Mary Slattery was married before?

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    1. Wendy, if my theory is correct, I would think so, and she was the mother of Mary Leonard, who married John Radcliffe in 1848, naming her father as John Leonard, so I suspect she was married to John Leonard, IF my theory is correct. :-)

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!