Blog: "Nothing But Bad Times"

[Matt R]

PS - For those who haven't noticed yet, the lady in my avatar is Mary Ann Owens, the same Mary Ann from the story.
Everytime I look at her facial expression, I can almost see her life story.

Lots more to come guys...

[dollylee]

No No No No ...... you can't have a life.  You can't travel to University.  You can't leave us hanging..... you must not eat, sleep or do anything other than finish your story.

I have been checking for an update almost hourly .....we are all just chomping at the bit to read more of this wonderful story ..... think of your adoring public !!!

dollylee

      

[Matt R]

LOL!

Ahhh but good things come to those who wait...I'd hate to prove the age old saying wrong now!

Only a few more hours to wait!

At this rate if it proves to be this popular I may have to keep running the story up until the modern day 

[Mum44]

Fascinated         Bookmarking 

[Matt R]

Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Four, Part One

The Owens family had now been in Scotland for five years. In that short space of time, everything had changed. The tragedy of Bernard and Francis’ untimely deaths had left the family feeling not quite the same as what it should have been. By this time, Eliza had seen four of her seven children marry, and her second, Mary Ann, become widowed before the age of thirty. Five years on from Bernard’s death, Eliza was now accustomed to living the widowed life. She now was stable enough not to rely on outside help, as Elizabeth, Ellen and Joseph were bringing in some income. However, unbeknown to them both at the time, Eliza’s life was about to change again.

Joseph Owens, the youngest of the Owens children, was now holding a job as an apprentice hammerman, and was taken under the wing of a man called John Devaney, born in County Leitrim in the 1850’s. One day in 1891 whilst Eliza was visiting Joseph at his new work, she and Devaney (as he was known) met for the first time, and something started to blossom. Eliza, although in her late 40’s, began to fall for a man ten years her junior and the two soon arranged to be married. Maybe, Eliza thought, this was what all her pain and suffering was for. Maybe, her God was testing her, to see if she was worthy of this happiness she now avidly pursued? After what she’d been through, would you let this chance pass you by? Once again, Eliza’s children found themselves flocking to St. Patrick’s Chapel in Anderston, and on December 10 1892, Eliza and Devaney were married. The wedding certificate infers that both Eliza and Devaney may have been economical with the truth when recording their ages! A 49 year old Eliza suddenly became 40, and a 40 year old Devaney, was suddenly 36. It seemed Eliza was a bit concerned about her own age.

Here also in this story, a new chapter begins for Mary Ann. For her, Anderston harboured too many bad memories, and she wanted out. She wanted to raise her son in an environment that was fresh and in which she could feel like she had left the tragedy of 1889 behind her. What had happened to her father and husband, she firmly wished never to revisit. Therefore, in 1893, Mary Ann decided her future lay outside of Glasgow, and headed for Motherwell. She had managed to get herself a house in the village of New Stevenston, which is now part of Holytown District. Her new address was 63 Napier’s Square.

Perhaps it had been decided by a power unknown, that Mary Ann had suffered too much too soon. In August 1893 she met a man called Michael Hughes. He was a strong Irish Catholic man from County Armagh, and had moved over to Scotland to contribute to the railway industry by laying plates all over Lanarkshire. After both of his parents had suffered under the famine, and ultimately perished, Michael came over to Scotland around the same time as the Owens’. If her father was alive, he would have almost certainly have approved of him. Michael and Mary Ann seemed to have found something special in each other, and although they planned to be married in late 1894, this was brought forward, as Mary Ann had fallen pregnant. She must have been ecstatic. Having him living on the other side of Napier’s Square (number 10) was also a blessing in itself. Michael and Mary Ann married on New Years Day 1894, in the chapel of Francis Xavier, at Carfin, a town that half a century later would be the site of the world famous Grotto, which to this day brings pilgrims from all over the UK to its gardens. The water in the stream there was brought over from Lourdes, in France. However until this time, Carfin was simply a very small town which was home to miners and their families, like much of Motherwell at this time.

Seven months after the two were married, Mary Ann gave birth to her first child with Michael. She was delighted when the midwife told her she had given birth to a healthy baby girl. Michael gave Mary Ann the choice to name the baby as she wished, and the new addition to the family was named Eliza, after Mary Ann’s mother. Despite this though, she was and has always been known in the family as Lizzie.

In this period of bliss for the Owens family, it seemed life really was looking up, after it was announced that Ellen had also arranged to marry. She had found herself a military man by the name of William Charles Chamberlain. He was born in 1871 at Hamilton Barracks, and his father was a Chelsea Pensioner who had fought in the Indian Mutiny and in the war of 1860 in China. At this point in time, Mary Ann was the only one of the family who had left Anderston. All others remained there, and Ellen married William in St Patrick’s Chapel (surprise!). This happened on October 31 1895. This was followed one year later by Elizabeth’s marriage, to a man called James Rice, who was a railway platelayer. Things were looking up…

Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008

[Matt R]

Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Four, Part Two

The story now moves to 1896, when Catherine, Mary Ann and Ellen all gave birth to sons: Catherine was now on her ninth child, Mary Ann had provided Michael with a son of his own, and Ellen and William had their first child. Catherine gave birth on February 28, calling her son Peter. Mary Ann called her son Patrick after Michael’s father. He was born on October 27, and Ellen and William named their first born John, who was born on November 10. The life/death ratio in the family was beginning to balance itself out again.

The Owens family now had a handful of descendants, and they were growing, fast! It would have made a humbling and emotional recovery from what had befallen them in the years before 1892. Heartbreakingly, this was as good as it was ever going to get, for all of them.

Shortly after the birth of John Chamberlain, Ellen and William realized they needed to move to a house that could accommodate their growing family. In March 1897, they moved into Govan parish, to a house that suited their needs, at 29 Ardgowan Place. In moving, William found that he could not find a job. He had been a warehouse porter all his working life, but could not find anything in Govan. For some reason, he was simply unemployable.  He was forthwith listed as “idle”.

Switching sisters for a moment, Elizabeth and her new husband James Rice, had had word from Mary Ann that James might want to think about coming to Holytown, because he too was struggling with work, and there were lots of workers needed in her area. Therefore, the two newlyweds moved to Holytown in summer of 1897, and soon after Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, and named him Patrick Rice.

Back on Ellen’s doorstep, things were getting worse. Her husband could no longer provide for her and her newborn son, and to make William more anxious, Ellen was now pregnant again. She begged her husband to ask his father for some help, as he received a Chelsea Pension. However, William would not. He insisted things would get better. Ellen was also a proud woman, she would not ask for money from anyone if she could avoid it. It seems that the declining state of Ellen and William’s situation also took a toll on their relationship. It is believed the two separated numerous times, but never divorced. However on October 29 1897, William began to have severe convulsions, and was taken into the eleventh ward of the Western Infirmary, in Anderston. This put Ellen back in close contact with her husband, and indeed her own family. Ellen, however, had to let her pride take a step back hereafter. She made an application for relief on November 2. She was rejected, on account that her father in law was able to give her some money, at least enough to support herself. He was a widower himself, and could spare his pension. She was also given eight shillings and eight pence a week from the Gardner’s Society, and ten shillings a week for general relief, due to being pregnant.

Meanwhile, whilst all this was going on, things took a worrying turn for John Devaney, Eliza’s second husband. They had been now married just under five years, and one day Eliza noticed Devaney in some discomfort. It was discovered that he had burst an ulcer, previously unseen, on his right leg. The doctor was called, and in a crushing blow for Devaney and Eliza, he was told that his leg was so bad, that it had in fact developed into carcinoma (cancer) and he would never work again. Eliza must have been devastated, like Devaney must have been, for she could see herself going down a road she had been down before, a road that nearly killed her. Despite this, she knew what was happening, and she persuaded her husband to apply for relief in her stead. Suddenly, Eliza was suddenly a pauper again. On November 8 1897, Devaney acted on his wife’s plea, and he applied for relief. The best they could offer him was the Poorhouse, and he had to take it. Although crippled by an ulcer that was slowly eating his leg, he knew he couldn’t put his wife in the poorhouse again. Devaney was entered, and he would work a painful two years away there…

Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008

[Matt R]

Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Five, Part One

Elsewhere in Lanarkshire, Mary Ann and Michael, along with her two children, Lizzie and Patrick, were doing what can only be described as “okay”. They were not struggling, but were by no means sorted financially. They had made a lot of friends (mostly connected with the Church), and the close Irish community in New Stevenston had welcomed them, and by now they had truly settled into their new life. Mary Ann was stable again, and Michael was good enough to raise Mary Ann’s son Francis as his own. Whilst the entire struggle was going on with Eliza and Devaney though, something happened to Mary Ann and Michael that would leave a mark on them forever. Mary Ann awoke one morning to find her daughter Lizzie lying motionless in her cradle, and immediately, the nurse was called. It was the morning of October 27 1897, Patrick’s first birthday. Oblivious to what was going on, he was crying continuously as a tearful Michael and Mary Ann struggled with the nurse. They must have pleaded with the nurse to make her baby better. There was some comfort for them both when they saw the nurse administer some medicine, and soon after Lizzie began to itch and wriggle in the cradle. The nurse warned them however, that although Lizzie was seemingly now looking healthy, she was breathing heavily and told them to watch out as she was starting to develop a winter cold.

The cold December chill had now set firm into 63 Napier’s Square, and the nurse visited several times. Michael and Mary Ann were told that they had to consider the possibility of seeing Christmas without their daughter. From what my grandmother says which she heard from her mother, the two of them were inconsolable. The story goes that Mary Ann would stand by the cradle for hours and hours, trying to give her dying daughter some warmth. Mary Ann also found new strength in her faith, still hoping and praying, praying so fervently, that her daughter would be spared. After a two week fight with pneumonia, Lizzie Hughes died in the house she was born, on December 11 1897. Although her parents must have expected it in some shape or form, it was still a massive blow to a family only just settled, and for Mary Ann it seemed, she was never going to be allowed to have any happiness in her life, without sacrifice. Lizzie’s death made her ill too, and Michael was off work for two months afterwards. And to make things even worse, Patrick was starting to develop a winter cold aswell…

Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008

[Matt R]

Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Five, Part Two


With anything that happens in life, the key is that we must always move on. We must once again find heart, and keep it. It seems that through her faith in God, Mary Ann and Michael did just that. For little more than three months after Lizzie has died, Mary Ann was pregnant again. The key was to survive, and to have children that would survive. I cant help but think Eliza had a lot to do with Michael and Mary Ann’s recovery, for Mary Ann did go back to Anderston to stay there for a couple of weeks. Perhaps it is fortunate that for the next year or so, things started to settle for the Owens’. When Mary Ann gave birth on November 11 1898, she must have that God had answered her prayers, albeit a little late. Michael and herself had been blessed with another daughter. They chose to call the new arrival Margaret. Two weeks later, Ellen had given birth to a daughter too, she was named Sarah. However, William Chamberlain was still in the Infirmary and now she really was struggling, despite her father-in-law’s weekly donation to her survival.

As we approach 1901, the Owens family has a different face to what it did in thee first years of migration. It had now flourished and intertwined with many different families. The term “branching out” seems to sum it up relatively well, methinks. But, we mustn’t forget the heartache that still ran through the family’s veins. Struggles that were still transpiring, such as the turmoil that had now engulfed Eliza Devaney and her husband, who’s condition was worsening. In autumn 1899 he was transferred from Glasgow Poorhouse to Barnhill, and was now on crutches. Just two weeks later, he was deemed unfit to work, and removed from the poorhouse. He was thought to be near death, so much so that his relief ceased. Devaney and Eliza, it seemed, were simply left to rot. It didn’t matter that they were both alone and had no income at all now save that of Joseph, if they couldn’t work, that was that. They had very much been abandoned. It looked like, for a moment that Eliza would have to go back into the poorhouse. Yet, so scarred she was from the previous circumstances that forced her into that dreadful place, she was simply too frightened to go. We will probably never know what experiences she had there except what we can gain from historical sources, but one thing is very clear: Her time in the poorhouse had scarred her for life. Fortunately, she managed to avoid it, and never went back there again. But what would become of her husband?

At the exact same time as the above occurred, Eliza learned that her daughter Elizabeth, who was now in Holytown, was expecting her second child with husband James Rice. At the turn of the century, she gave birth to a beautiful girl, whom she named Mary Ann, after her sister. Funnily enough, at this point in time, Mary Ann herself had fell pregnant again, and on October 15 gave birth to another son, calling him Bernard after her father. Bernard Hughes was born in Craigneuk, but at the time of the 1901 census, Mary Ann and her family were living as such:

-Eliza, her son Joseph and second husband John Devaney were living at 69 Piccadilly Street, Anderston.

-Catherine, Charles, and their family (Charles, Elizabeth, Margaret, John, Catherine, Christina, Thomas, Mary, Peter and George), were living at 13 Kinning Street, Tradeston. Another child, Bernard, was on the way. I am starting to think Charles and Catherine loved each other very much!

-Mary Ann, her second husband Michael Hughes, and their children Patrick, Margaret and Bernard were living at 31 Wishaw Road, Holytown.

-Elizabeth and her husband James Rice, along with their two children Patrick and Mary Ann, were living two houses down at 27 Wishaw Road, Holytown.

-Ellen, at this point was separated from William Chamberlain (he was in Western Infirmary), was living with their two children, John and Sarah, at 14 Baker Street, Stirling.

Maybe with the break of the century, things would get better for the family? Surely, things had to ease up, if only a little…


Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008

[Blondie1]

Matt,

This makes wonderful reading as sad as it is.    It's like reading a book you can't put it down.

I await the next part anxiously.

Val