RootsChat.Com

Tara ,
I was in the process of answering your email ...but seem to have hit the wrong button .... so have decided to redraft it .  If the (unfinished) email has already reached you , then my apologies for repeating my reply .
Thank you for your email in response to my enquiry regarding the ROWE/WROE family and whether they came from Dublin or County Kildare to settle in Manchester .  I shall try set out an answer as well as possible . 
My great-great grandparents were Michael and Margaret ROWE who settled in Manchester probably between 1830 and 1841 .  As I have not been able to locate when and where they married (almost certainly Ireland) I do not know Margaret's maiden surname .  Michael died in Manchester in 1864 aged 68 [consequently born 1795/1796 ??]  .  When he remarried in 1852 the Manchester RC church marriage register showed that he was the "son of John and Catherine ROWE of County Kildare" .  A marriage in Athy , Co. Kildare on 2 February 1789 was held between a John ROWE and Catherine KELLY . Are these "the" parents ??
Great-great grandparents Michael and Margaret had four children : Ann , Bridget , Catherine and (great-grandfather) Michael - all born Ireland  . Michael was born 1826/27 and on successive UK censuses from 1851 to 1891 always gave the answer "Dublin" to "Place of birth ?"
Based on the above information I have tried to research whatever records are either available or that I could unearth whether in County Kildare or in Dublin ....but - alas ! - to no avail ..... hence my posting on Rootschat .
I trust that you can follow this convoluted email .  I realise that there is not much to go on but after two or three years of frustratingly trying to research the family on my own I decided to put a post out there in the hope that perhaps someone might be able to resolve at least one of the many imponderable mysteries involved with my ancestors (and possible descendants) .
Kind regards ,
Mike

I would be extremely delighted , if some nice person could help resolve a problem as I try to research my family in County Kildare .  Here briefly is what I know : - 

(1) My great-great grandfather Michael WROE/ROWE died in Manchester in 1864 , his age given as 68 which suggests either 1795 or 1796 as his year of birth .
(2) When he remarried [as a widower] the church records state that he was the son of John and Catherine ROWE of County Kildare .
(3) I have not been able to trace Michael's birth but a marriage for a John ROWE and Catherine KELLY has been found in Athy (Co. Kildare) on 2 February 1789 .  The witnesses were Bryan McLEAD and Catherine McLEAD . 
(4) Disappointingly no children for John and Catherine have been located .
(5) Further searching has been unsuccessful .

Consequently - in view of the absence of any census records and/or possible earlier church records - any assistance/suggestions would be very welcome .
Mike

Hello , Sheila again ......
Thank you for your two recent and very informative emails .  I am going to try to answer the points you raise as well as I can .
(1) You say that Abraham's mother (Sarah VARLEY) had the surname HOLLOUGH and that you found the marriage to Thomas VARLEY registered in Leeds in 1831 .  On the 1841 census , however , the details for the VARLEY family include the information that the eldest child was John aged 15 which suggests a birth year of 1825 or 1826 .  The next eldest child is Grace (probably my great-grandmother - Grace WROE nee VARLEY) aged 13 , suggesting a birth year of 1827/1828 .  When she died in February 1900 her age was given as 73 which would suggest a birth year of 1826 or 1827 .  Taking into account  the social morals in the early nineteenth century I think it would be unlikely that Thomas and Sarah would have married after the birth of the first child (assuming John to be the eldest) let alone after the birth of both John and Grace .
(2) If the argument above holds true that the  1831 marriage may not be the one we are trying to find ..... then what do you think about the following suggested marriage between Thomas and Sarah nee STONES held at Heptonstall (Hebden Bridge) on 25 December 1823 ? 
(3) Do you happen to have a copy of the birth certificate for your great-grandfather William who was born 1843 ?  Does this not give the maiden surname of Sarah ?  This would prove things one wary or the other ..... and would mercifully shut me up !
(4) I believe that Abraham VARLEY was born 1833 and baptised at St Michael and All Angels , Haworth in 1834 .  On the 1871 census (for 11 Thomas Street , Salford) Abraham [wrongly recorded as "Abram"] is recorded as being born "Keighley" .  This would tie in with the baptism details as Haworth and Keighley are about 3 miles apart .
(5)You mentioned earlier that your grandmother Ethel HALL nee VARLEY married twice ; and that her daughter - maiden name also Ethel HALL - is a half-sister to your Dad .  I am interested to learn a bit more ... but if this is probing into personal family matters , then please ignore this question .
(6) Are you enjoying living in the south-west ?  We live in Somerset (although I was born in Warrington) and we are very happy about our choice .
I shall look forward to hearing from you (again) very soon .
Mike

I think that my great-grandmother Grace nee VARLEY was a sister of Abraham VARLEY .  She was born Hebden Bridge (Yorkshire) around 1826/1827 ; got married in Ashton-under-Lyne although I am fairly sure she was living at 6 Coronation Street , Salford at the time ; and lived all her married life in Salford where she died in February 1900 .  How is Ethel HALL nee VARLEY related to you ?
Mike