Dillons from Manchester

[Dillonseeker]

Seeking burial place/siblings/ancestry of Great-GF John Dillon b. 31 Dec 1870 Openshaw, Chorlton, Manchester, UK. Son of Thomas Henry Dillon and Ann/Anne/Annie (surname unknown, possibly Mason), both born Dublin, Ireland. John died 10 Sept. 1897 at 1 Bradgate St., Ashton-under-Lyne. Private in Manchester Regiment 1886-1894. Married 9 Aug. 1890 at St. Peter's Church, Ashton-under-Lyne to Emma Johnson Morley, a Protestant, resulting in his Catholic family disowning him. John and Emma's children: Annie 1890-1985; Walter 1893-1974; Catherine, dates unknown, died in infancy; Leonard born posthumously 1898, died 1898, 4-8 months. They lived at 3 Stanley St. when married, 1 Bradgate St. by time of John's death.

    John's parents, according to his Manchester Regiment records, lived at Tomlinson Street, Hulme. They may have been married at St. Wilfrid's R. C. Church. John was listed as a shoemaker on his Regiment records, grocer master on death cert.

    Family legend: His mother crashed his funeral after having disowned him since his marriage seven years earlier, to protest that he was not being buried according to Catholic tradition. Apparently, she was oblivious to the irony. I do wonder, though, if this could have influenced where he was buried, as he is not listed in the Dukinfield office records, which cover eight cemeteries in and around Ashton-under-Lyne.
 

[Wiggy]

Welcome to Rootschat Dillonseeker

- Sorry I can't help you but no doubt others will be able to.  It's a great and friendly 'family' you've come to here.

Reading your post makes me realize the stupid frictions caused all because of religion! - I say that as a regular church attendee!   

Wiggy   

[davidrigg3]

Hi and Welcome,

Do you have the death certificates for John and Leonard to see where they were living at the time of their deaths?

Neither is buried at A-u-L, St. Peters's, the images for the burial registers are on FamilySearch but they aren't listed. (Their marriage is on page 233 of 251 if you want to see John's signature)

There are also images for A-u-L, St James, but unfortunately only Banns, Baptisms & Marriages, NOT Burials!!

 

[Dillonseeker]

Thank-you Wiggy and David for the warm welcome! And so soon after I posted! (How does this work: do you both see this thank-you?) If you think the "family legend" wording is a bit snarky, please advise and I will modify. It's just sad/amusing to me.

I have modified and added to my post. Have John's death cert. somewhere, but not Leonard's. However, I noted the info down on my charts and the family lived at 3 Stanley St., Ashton-under-Lyne in 1890 where my GM Annie was born and by the time John died in 1897, they were living at 1 Bradgate St.

Thank-you for the info lookup, davidrigg3! I will check that out. 

John Dillon is my only "lost" great-grandparent. Have visited the graves of the other seven; that's five gravesites in three countries.

[davidrigg3]

Hi Dillonseeker,

Yes we should both see your thank you reply - most people set their preferences so that they automatically get a notification whenever an addition is made to a thread they have created or posted on, and no, I don't think there's anything wrong with your wording of the 'Family Legend'.

I would have assumed that even if it were true that she crashed the funeral, that the burial would have been all organised and to put it bluntly, the grave already dug! So it would have been quite a feat to change all the arrangements at such short notice.

As he is the only one 'lost', whereabouts is Emma his wife buried?

I suppose it is possible that he had wanted to be buried in a Catholic graveyard - I don't know if Catholic records are necessarily lodged with Records Offices as a matter of course - perhaps someone with local knowledge would be able to advise.

[Dillonseeker]

Blimey! I believe I just found John Dillon's burial place!! Thank-you, davidrigg! I posted yesterday and solved the mystery today?? OK, calm down, I'll still have to confirm with the church in question, but I am in tears!

FamilySearch shows a John Dillon buried at Christ Church, Ashton-under-Lyne, 14 Sept. 1897, four days after my JD's death. Christ Church has nothing to do with my family history, so I never considered it. Maybe the families considered it a compromise, or maybe St. Peter's had no room.

Here's the weird part: I just visited Ashton a month ago, 9-11 January. Stopped in at a thrift shop, hoping to find collectibles with the name "Ashton-under-Lyne" printed on them. Bought a "Christ Church, Ashton-under-Lyne" ashtray, just because it had the town name, but I almost didn't because the church was "irrelevant"   to my family history. Thought, "Maybe I'm being selfish; I should leave it for someone who actually has a connection to the church." Maybe someone was sending me a message  

[Dillonseeker]

OK I did not write "Blimey!" I wrote oh my g-d and it was automatically "translated", perhaps to avoid blasphemy? 

Emma Johnson (Morley) Dillon is buried in Fall River, Massachusetts, USA where my Ashton branches emigrated. They all ended up there or in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

I visited her gravesite and others in Fall River while growing up. We sound a bit cemetery-obsessed, but caring for the graves was a very normal part of my family tradition.

[davidrigg3]

Well I have my fingers crossed for you, I hope you will let us know on this thread if you find out for sure one way or the other.

[Dillonseeker]

Will definitely let you know. Will email Christ Church today, so should be able to confirm soon.

Later: Christ Church referred me to the Tameside Library, so it may be awhile.