Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

Hi folks can you help trying to find the parents of

LILY PRENDERGAST BORN 1898

I have found her on the 1901 census with her grandparent JAMES AND JANE PRENDERGAST at 44 Picton Road.

This address is also the address NORAH PRENDERGAST used when she married EDWARD ALBERT BIGGS on 7th April 1901

In 19011 census Norah then living with her children Norah and Sara Davies, states she has had 5 children, 3 living. Jessie May I know was with her grandparent SARA and William JONES. JANE HELEN had died in 1904..........could LILY be her child

I have tried finding her but once again dont have the know how Can anyone help?

I'm afraid I'm not having any luck, hope somebody else does. No baptisms for either Lily Prendergast or Biggs around that date, nor a birth entry in the indexes which I do think is odd.

Of course I'm wondering if she wasn't a Prendergast nor even a Biggs, but possibly registered under an unknown father's name.

Do you have a marriage for her?

Holy Trinity, Wavertree
20th April 1898 Lily Prendergast Burgess Parents George & Eliza Burgess
Address 44 Picton Road - Occupation Sailor

Hi Sue,

Lan OPC has the following baptism at St Bridgets Wavertree:

20 Apr 1898 St Bridget, Wavertree, Lancashire, England
Lily Prendergast Burgess - Daughter of George Burgess & Eliza
Abode: 44 Picton Road
Occupation: Sailor

and also the following marriage:
11 Dec 1895 St Bridget, Wavertree, Lancashire, England
George Slader Burgess - 36 Mariner Bachelor of 44 Picton Rd
Eliza Prendergast - 27 Spinster of 44 Picton Rd
Groom's Father: Richard Burgess, Deceased
Bride's Father: James Prendergast, Cordwainer
Witness: James Prendergast; Emma Prendergast; James Clark

Looks like the Burgess bit got missed off the 1901 census!!

Alison x

St Bridet's Church, in the Parish of Holy Trinity, Wavertree
11th December, 1895
George Slader Burgess 36 Bachelor Mariner 44 Picton Road
Father Richard Burgess Deceased
Eliza Prendergast 27 Spinster 44 Picton Road
Father James Prendergast, Cordwainer
They appear to have signed their own names
Witnesses James Prendergast, Emma Prendergast and James Clark

Hi folks, well as usual you have come up trumps

Having just the name Prendergast on census, made me think one of the sons children/ illegitimate.

I did have Eliza and George's marriage with children Dorothy and Grace but they had been born in Shanghai.........although died in this country.

But thank you so much at least I wont be chasing a dead ended..........again

George Slader Burgess was my husband's great grandfather. His marriage to Eliza Prendergast was a bigamous one - he was already married to Elizabeth Maria Marsh who was still alive and living in Poplar with their children. No divorce appears to have taken place and in the 1901 Census she gives her status as married and in the 1911 Census she gives her status as widow. His bigamy must have been discovered by Eliza because she re-married, as a single woman, just a few months after the baptism of Lily Prendergast Burgess - details are:
Groom's Name: Thomas Prescott
Groom's Birth Date: 1855
Groom's Age: 43
Bride's Name: Eliza Prendergast
Bride's Birth Date: 1868
Bride's Age: 30
Marriage Date: 18 Dec 1898
Marriage Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Groom's Father's Name: Abraham Prescott
Bride's Father's Name: James Prendergast
BGroom's Marital Status: Widowed
Bride's Marital Status: Single
Bride's Previous Husband's Name: Blank

Eliza and Thomas Prescott went on to have a number of children and continued to live in the same area. Therefore Grace Susan Burgess and Dorothy Mabel Burgess who were married in Shanghai in the early 1900s and give George Slader Burgess as their father do not appear to be children of Eliza. The death certificate of Grace Susan Bugess gives her place of birth as Shanghai and as neither of these two births were registered with the British Consulate in Shanghai it would appear that neither of their parents were British citizens (George Slader Burgess was born in Savannah la Mar in Jamaica). Their marriages were registered because their husbands were British Citizens.
Lily Prendergast Burgess gives, on her marriage certificate, her father's name as James Burgess which I believe to be a mistake as she appears to have been brought up by her grandparents.
Name: James Edward Barnett
Event: Marriage
Event Date: 27 Apr 1918
Event Place: Rock-Ferry, Cheshire, England
Gender: Male
Age: 20y
Groom's Father: Alexander Barnett
Spouse: Lily Prendergast Burgess
Spouse's Father: James Burgess

I hope this solves the mystery.

Hi and welcome to the forum. What a lovely entry to give the background to the mystery, Sue is a regular visitor to the forum and I'm sure will respond to your post soon.

Hi Gina

Welcome aboard

My main interest lies with Norah Prendergast, Eliza's sister. She as the good people on here know was my g.grandmother. She was married to Mr Biggs, left him before the ink dried to be with my g.grandfather, John William Davies,... Bore 5 children, 3 survived Jessie May, Norah and Sara my Nan. Nan always said and wrote her mothers name was Sara.......this was infact her grandmother (my baby book was the start of my tree, and nan did well to cover the tracks) Norah we think left the children with John William Davies' mum Sara West Davies/Jones .....she then as a widow from Mr Biggs in 1911 married a Mr Coventry ( a toy boy no less) had another daughter and emigrated to Australia.........unless anyone knows differently

I am doing my tree on Ancestry, and I am learning (as warned on this site) not every persons tree contains the right information. I will amend my tree to the information you have put on here, which is brilliant thanks for taking the time to put it down.

What I would really love to know is where my Nan and her sisters went and lived after Norah disappeared and before she met my grandad at 17.........watch this space

Glad to be of assistance. Its good to be able to set the record straight too - as you say far too many people on Ancestry have the wrong information!

Good luck with your search.