Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

I am tracing my family tree and have reached a block with a Mary Ann MURPHY, b. 1861/2 in Liverpool. If anyone can help I’d much appreciate it. Here is what I know.

She was born in Liverpool in 1861/2. In about 1884 she married Anthony BRADLEY in Liverpool. He was a coach painter / coach body builder. They had 4 children: Alice May b. 1885, James Anthony b. 28 Mar 1887, Thomas William b. 1890, and Edith b. 1892. Alice May died in her teens. James Anthony became a draughtsman and settled in Rochdale where he married Ellen RUSSELL. Thomas William married a Mabel Isabel FRANCE, lived in West Derby, and died in 1931. Edith married a Dane called HANSEN and moved to Denmark.

I am not sure whether her Ann is really Anne. On the birth certificate of her son James Anthony it is given as Ann, but the GRO entries for her marriage seem to say it is Anne. In the censuses it is Ann.

Mary Ann MURPHY appears in the 1891 and 1901 censuses, under her married name Mary Ann BRADLEY. In 1891 she was living with her family at 184 Morton St, Gorton, Manchester. In 1901 they were living at 18 Gladstone Road, Liverpool.

An elderly relative of mine said that she died in the 1919 flu epidemic though I can find no entry for a Mary Ann MURPHY in the GRO death indexes for 1918-20 that matches. This relative however also said she thought she was from Cork in Ireland, but both census entries say she was born in Liverpool.

When the 1891 census was taken, which was on 5 Apr 1891, her age was given as 29. When the 1901 census was taken, which was on 31 Mar 1901, her age was given as 38. If reliable these two facts mean that she must have been born between the 1st and the 5th April 1862. I checked the GRO index for the April-June quarter of that year and there are 2 or 3 possible matches. I could obtain the birth certificates but without any other knowledge of the family I could not tell which, if any, is the right one.

If anyone could give me any help or suggestions with this I’d be very grateful.

Thanks for reading my post.

Marriages Sep 1884
Bradley Anthony Liverpool 8b 272
Murphy Mary Ann Liverpool 8b 272
Murphy Mary Anne Liverpool 8b 272

this is the marriage

That was what I saw for the marriages too. In the 1891 census its given as 'Mary A' and in 1901 as 'Mary Ann'. Also on the only birth certificate I have seen for any of her children is it also 'Mary Ann'. So I think more likely 'Ann' is right.

Hi Colin, the marriage was at St Peter's Seel St.
I found it in Hibernia.
Here's the link
Cheers
Tina
If you would like some kind person to look up when next at LRO, I suggest you post another link including the year and the quarter. Good luck
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... omhead.htm

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The marriage certificate is your way forward as this will give Mary Ann's father's name and occupation, also their addresses and witnesses, who might be related providing more clues. The father's name would give you a criteria to place upon your application for the birth certificate and might save some money rather than ordering incorrect ones.

Cheaper than sending off to the GRO for the marriage certificate is to look up the marriage register, which Tina found for you. You will find this is available at the Liverpool Record Office, 4th Floor, William Brown Street Library.

With those details it could be possible to find her in the earlier censuses.

We don't tend to worry too much about minor spelling differences, such as whether there is an e on the end of Ann or not, since we don't know who wrote the entries - ie perhaps the enumerator wrote out the census sheets, although certificates are often more consistently spelled the same way.

Hi I know this sounds stupid but you say you cannot see a death fro a Mary A MURPHY in 1919..you did look under Bradley didnt you ????

also elderly relatives can forget..have you tried this death cert


Deaths Dec 1916 (97%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bradley Mary A 57 Liverpool 8b 172

I know its a couple of years out but i have more years than this being out for a persons age and its been the right person.


xx

Morning Crew

1911 West Derby rego (free lookup)
Anthony 49, Mary Anne 48 (1863c) Thomas William 21, Edith Godfrey 19.

Tina