Genealogy Chat

Source Citation: Class: RG12; Piece: 2234; Folio 11; Page 16; GSU roll: 6097344. There are three sisters on the above 1891 census who are all widows. I am trying to find their maiden name but the more I look at this the less I know where to go. On the original doc the age of Mary looks like 75 to me, not as transcribed, also neither of the children have the same name as their mother also Richard does not seem to be as transcribed. Sherlock Holmes required! Thanks Chris

ALL 1891 3 widowed sisters (or so it appears) McDonough Catherine 65 Mary Harty 46 Bright Mc Dermott 67 (bridget) Catherine appears to have a daughter Catherine Read.18, (born W'hampton) <Grandaughetr perhaps??? Mary Harty has a son, called Richard,20, Born W'hampton ( but No, he;s not Harty) the 3 widows born Ireland, so may well have married there. ------------------------------------ Going for my dinner, maybe someone else can carry on trying to sort for you

Here's Richard Richard Catherine Age: 30 Estimated birth year: abt 1861 Relation: Son Mother's name: McDonough Gender: Male Where born: Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England Civil parish: Wolverhampton Ecclesiastical parish: St James County/Island: Staffordshire Country: England Registration district: Wolverhampton Sub-registration district: Wolverhampton Eastern ED, institution, or vessel: 18 Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age McDonough Catherine 65 Read Catherine 18 Richard Catherine 30 Mary Harty 45 Bright Mc Dermott 67 Does this help? Penny

There's something very odd about this family. The Ancestry transcription for Richard is wrong: on the image, his surname is something like Dawire (Darwin?). It isn't clear whether he's Catherine's son or Mary's. Mary's age definitely looks like 75. There appears to be no Catherine Read born in Staffordshire around 1873. However, I found the following entries, which might possibly be the marriage of Catherine senior and the birth of Catherine junior: Marriages Sep 1852 (>99%) McDonough Michael Wolverhampton 6b 611 MCKEW Catharine Wolverhampton 6b 611 McKew Catherine Wolverhampton 6b 611 Births Sep 1874 (>99%) McDonough Catherine W. Bromwich 6b 845 Bit of a gap between the marriage and the birth, though. No sign of marriages for Mary McKew to Harty or Bridget McKew to McDermott, or a marriage for Catherine McDonough to Read when she would have been old enough.

Just to complicate things: Marriages Sep 1861 (>99%) McDonough Bridget Manchester 8d 685 READ James Manchester 8d 685

Here's Bridget in 1881, at the same address as in 1891: 1881 England Census about Bridget McDermott Name: Bridget McDermott Age: 56 Estimated birth year: abt 1825 Relation: Head Gender: Female Where born: Mayo CO, Ireland Civil parish: Wolverhampton County/Island: Staffordshire Country: England Street address: No 2 Court Union St No 5 Condition as to marriage: Windower (Widower) Education: Employment status: View image Occupation: Sack Maker Registration district: Wolverhampton Sub-registration district: Wolverhampton Eastern ED, institution, or vessel: 23 Neighbors: View others on page Household Members: Name Age Bridget McDermott 56 Margaret McDermott 20, daughter, unmarried, born Wolverhampton, Staffordshire Margaret Naren 60, boarder, unmarried, born Co. Mayo, Ireland The image is very faint; the boarder's surname might be the same as Richard's in 1891, but I'm not sure.

This is Bridget's daughter's birth: Births Dec 1860 (>99%) McDERMOTT Margaret Wolverhampton 6b 416 If you get her birth certificate it'll give her mother's maiden name.

Thanks for all your sleuthing. I am pretty sure all three probably got married in Ireland. I am trying to see if there is a Mayo connection before I start over there.Bridget in 1881 says she's from Mayo and I think she was married to Francis before 1845. I wish the writing was not so indistinct, I have never heard of surname Neren, has anyone? Also I wondered if Richard could be Devine as that is a name that seems to crop up earlier. I will pursue the McKew possibility but Margaret's birth cert is the safest bet I think. Many thanks

A couple more possibilities to bear in mind: Catherine junior might actually be Catherine senior's granddaughter, and the sisters might actually be sisters-in-law.

Thank you Mary - thats all I need -double trouble now. I hadn;t thought about in laws as I have previously seen people described as 'in law' on a census but now I need to getmy head round this. I'll look into the grand daughter idea as well Thank you for your suggestions Chris