Untangling the Web of Family History
By SUSAN-MARY SMITH
One puzzle has always been the relationships and ancestors from my great-great grandmother, Margaret Hart. Writing a case study, or summary of what you know, is a great way to guide you in your next research steps. Here is the first half of my case study on Margaret Hart, and I'll finish it off for you in the next column.
Margaret was born in County Louth, Ireland in approximately 1836. Her father's name was James. I don't yet know her mother's name. The first official notation I have for Margaret Hart is in 28 April 1855 in Sunderland, County Durham, England when she married Edward Matthews of Louth, Ireland. I couldn't find Mary on the 1851 English Census, so it is a good guess that she came to England between 1851 and 1855, to escape the Potato Famine.
Her husband Edward Matthews was born in Meath, Ireland in the late 1820s. I was lucky enough to find him on the 1851 English Census, living with his mother Margaret Matthews who was a widow. In September of 1856, the year after Edward was married, his mother died of "exhaustion," according to her death certificate.
Edward Matthews, a coal miner, and Margaret Hart had their first child, Bernard, on 10 March 1856. Sadly, he died when he was less than a year old, in January of 1857.
By the time of the 1861 English Census, Edward and Margaret nee Hart Matthews were living with their two children, Patrick (born 1860) and Catharine (born 1862).
Edward died in the Union Workhouse (probably the hospital section) in 1865. Cause of death was General Paralysis of the Insane, which was the term used for syphilis in those days. What a life Margaret must have had!
Soon after, she got together with my great-great-grandfather, George Dooley, who came from Westmeath, Ireland. George worked in a local quarry. There is no record of them living together or marrying. In fact, on the 1871 English Census, though they had three children together by then, they were listed in different addresses. They had one more child, Mary, in 1873 but she only lived two weeks.
George Dooley's surviving children were Margaret, Alice and George. They were considered illegitimate and no civil birth certificates can be found for them. I was lucky enough to be able to get their baptismal certificates, which shows George Dooley, a quarry worker, as the father and Margaret nee Hart later Matthews as the mother. Alice died when she was four, but I know George Junior survived because he was my great-grandfather.
I haven't been able to find a death certificate for George Senior and though there are numerous possibilities, none fit exactly with the facts I have about him.
To make things even more complicated, because George Dooley Senior and Margaret nee Hart Matthews did not marry, and because George Senior disappeared (or died) all surviving children began to use the last name of Matthews.
When I had reached this point in my research, I felt stymied. I'd searched and searched for George Senior's birth, marriage and death and had found nothing in English or Irish records.
It was at that point that I realized I needed to search the collateral lines of Margaret's children, if I was going to make any progress at all. Next month: What I found out!
READER QUERIES:
James MONAGHAN born 10 December 1871 Ballintogher, Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. Went to Chicago approximately 1890, died possibly 1951. Any family please contact nephew Matt by e-mail at: mattmonaghan@shaw.ca.
Susan-Mary Smith is a family history researcher from Quesnel, British Columbia. For information on fees for service, please contact her directly at smithjosephy@shaw.ca. To submit your perplexing family history problems for the column, please e-mail information to her for inclusion.
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