Help finding parents of Marie Irene Corcoran

[Bigbadbev]

Hi

I am trying to find the birth parents of Marie Irene Corcoran born 1896 approx. I have been told that her mother died in childbirth and shortly afterwards her father was killed in an accident in the docks at Liverpool (I don't know if this means several months or several years) .

I was told that her father's boss adopted her and she was brought up by him and his wife. I have been able to corroborate this on the 1901 census , which shows her (as adopted daughter) living with John and Hannah Corcoran .

I knew that the father and his boss worked in the Cunard Cargo Department. The census shows John Corcoran's job as a Wharfinger (in charge of a dock). When I did subsequent searches I found newspaper articles referring to a John Corcoran Wharfinger at Cunard Cargo department. So I am sure that the detail about working for Cunard is correct. I believe that although he worked in the docks , if he worked for the Wharfinger he may likely have been some type of clerk.

Obviously the problem is that Marie Irene took on her adopted parents surname, so I have no surname to use nor an exact date of birth, just that she was 5 yrs old at the time of the 1901 census. So I also cannot be sure that Marie Irene is her original birth name, but if I don't assume this I have little to go on.

I think the only way I have of working this out is to try to find some record for deaths of employees working for cunard cargo around this time and try to cross reference this with births and deaths certificates to find mother and daughter. However I don't know where I can find such records of cunard cargo employees or deaths in the liverpool docks ?!?

I have also started looking at newspaper articles to find fatal accidents at the docks but this is extremely time consuming and inconclusive.

any help / suggestions would be appreciated
thanks

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I wonder if the Maritime Archives and Library might be of use to you, http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mari ... e/sheet/17 they have an information sheet

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mari ... 20no17.pdf

Cunard themselves also hold an archive, they might be helpful. http://manuscriptsandmore.liv.ac.uk/?cat=77 as might the University of Liverpool.

These are just some suggestions as I don't know if there would be any employees records still existing anywhere.

[Bigbadbev]

Hi

thanks for the suggestions, I have looked at the Maritime Archives and Library sheets and also been in contact with Liverpool University Archives, but they hold nothing that is likely to be of interest.

many thanks
bev

[MaryA]

I tried I hope others might come up with more suggestions.

[Blue70]

Do we know if the families concerned were Catholics? Going by the Corcoran's address of 157 Stanley Road Bootle in 1901 we may also be struggling because Marie might have had a Bootle RC baptism they aren't online and some records were destroyed in WW2. I've done various newspaper searches following up on those who were killed at the docks and none of those I found fitted this profile. Did Marie marry? Was her married name Fletcher?


Blue

[Katie]

If you confirm that Blue has the marriage to Fletcher she should be on the 1939 Register which will give you a date of birth for her.

[Katie]

Hannah Maria Corcoran died in 1917 and left probate to John Alexander Wilson and Marie Irene Fletcher.

Do you have Marie on the 1911 census?

[Bertieone]

1911,

RG14 P22306,

51 Crosby Rd, Seaforth,
John Corcoram 73
Hamnah Maria Corcoram 71
Maria Irene Corcoram 15
Ellin Odonnell 33
John McCaughan 38

[Karen]

There is a death of a Marie I Fletcher in March quarter 1948 in Liverpool South. She was aged 52 which would match the census information.

[Karen]

Marriage, 1916, Warrington, Civil Marriage or Registrar Attended
Marie I Corcoran & William Fletcher

(From CheshireBMD)

[MaryA]

If you confirm that Blue has the marriage to Fletcher she should be on the 1939 Register which will give you a date of birth for her.

Katie has hit on a point here. You think that her birth name may have been Marie Irene. If you have her exact date of birth you could check the birth indexes for all "Marie Irene" entries in the appropriate quarter.

You could get in touch with the GRO and order those certificates with the stipulation that the birth date is correct. I have done this previously for four entries and those that were wrong were refunded to me and they successfully issued the correct one.

[Barbara B]

If the Fletcher marriage is correct might it be worth while sending for the certificate? If there was no formal adoption would Marie have to put her birth father's name? Just a thought.
Barbara

[alex69]

There is only one MARIE IRENE registered in West Derby District (FREE BMD) between 1890 and 1899 (search Marie I with no surname entered) and the age does not fit.

Marie Irene LINDON Mar 1899 WD 8b 579

However the death is recorded in the Sep Quarter 1899 aged 0

There are none in Liverpool Toxteth Park or Birkenhead.

Alex

[Bigbadbev]

As I don’t have any details on her birth parents so I don’t know if she was born into a Catholic family but the Corcorans brought her up as a Catholic.

She did marry William Fletcher in 1916 and she did die in 1948 aged 52. I did send for a copy of the marriage cert and it has John Corcoran as the father.

Searching the BDM does come up with a couple of possibilities , so I guess one option maybe ordering the birth certs and then cross referencing for the parents deaths soon afterwards.

[MaryA]

Searching the BDM does come up with a couple of possibilities , so I guess one option maybe ordering the birth certs and then cross referencing for the parents deaths soon afterwards.

If you are going to go down that line, then before ordering them search for men with the surnames that you have, then if one sounds likely, and you order a certificate you could state that the father's name must be the one that you know. That might save spending money unnecessarily.

[Hilary]

Just a thought, the Corcorans were quite old to take on a small child so it might be worth looking at who are living with them in previous censuses as perhaps the child the Corcorans took on could be related to those people or even be a relative.

[Karen]

Just a thought, the Corcorans were quite old to take on a small child so it might be worth looking at who are living with them in previous censuses as perhaps the child the Corcorans took on could be related to those people or even be a relative.

Is this them in 1881?
320 Netherfield Rd North
(Interesting that there is another orphan living with them)

John Corcoran / head / mar / 43 / Shipping Clerk / Lanc, Liverpool
Hannah Corcoran / wife / mar / 41 / Lanc, Liverpool
John Carlisle / orphan / 12 / Scholar / Lanc, Liverpool
Emma Howard / serv / uni / 19 / Gen Serv / Lanc, Liverpool

Piece: 3668
Folio: 101
Page Number: 2

[Katie]

Instead of ordering certificates for those registered as Marie Irene, would it not be more beneficial to apply for Marie Irene Fletcher on the 1939 Register, which will give you a birth date to go from.

[Bigbadbev]

She was definitely adopted by the Corcorans, as was known in the family and backed up by the census and her marriage certificate having John Corcoran as her adopted father. It was know that they couldnt have children and that was probably why they adopted her and also as has been mentioned above adopted another child some years before.

Could somebody explain what the 1939 register is ? how would i go about searching that ?

many thanks
bev

[Blue70]

More information here:-

http://www.forum.liverpool-genealogy.or ... 24&t=13040

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/register-service

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/1939register


Blue