Grandad's Widow

[Peddy]

Hi,

I'm trying to find out what happened to my grandfathers second wife, after they moved from Dublin to Liverpool some time after 1911.  My grandfather, Andrew O'Brien died of TB on 23 July 1916, and at the time he and his wife were living at 9 Hemer Place Bootle Merseyside.  It is possible that my father Peter and his sister Eveline were living at the same address, in 1916 they would have been 16 and 11 respectively. The death certificate records that Andrew's wife Ellen O'Brien was with him at the time of death, and reported the death.   The death certificate shows my grandfathers age as 50 at the time of death.  However, the 1911 census for Dublin shows my grandfather being 49 and Ellen 33, so approximately five years later their ages would have been 54 and 38.

Would appreciate any info that helps move this side of the family history on a bit.

Thanks!

Pete

[CaroleW]

Did your father marry and remain in England?  When did he marry?

Do you know if Eveline remained in England

[Peddy]

Hi Carole,

Yes, dad remained in England and married my mum, Margaret Dunn in 1920, and our family home when I was born was 69 Linacre Lane Bootle.  I was the youngest of six, born 1941 in Southport due to the war.  Dad's sister Eveline also lived in Linacre Lane a little higher up, I think it was 77.  I think Eveline also remained in England.   

Rgds

Pete

[CaroleW]

This is a difficult one as you really need somebody with personal knowledge of the family - a descendant of one of the children who remembers Ellen and most importantly - somebody who is still alive today

There are several Ellen O'Brien marriages in Liverpool from 1917 onwards but there is no way of knowing whether it's your Ellen unless you want to bankrupt yourself and buy all the certificates at £9.25 a go!!

Even then - you would have to know what Ellen's birth surname was as her father would have a different surname than O'Brien on the marriage cert

She may have remained a widow or she may have returned to Ireland

[Peddy]

Carole,

Thanks for trying!

I really do agree with you regarding the level of difficulty, and the pitfalls of paying for certificates in the hope they are the right one's.  In the same vein I am trying to verify Ellen's maiden name and a Dublin marriage in 1910 to grandad.  I have applied for a certificate for the best match I could get, all I know is the 1911 census showed they had been married 7 months.  If I am correct, Ellen's maiden name was Georghegan, as you discovered with post 1916 Liverpool marriages, you wouldn't believe how many Ellen's married an Andrew O'Brien in Jul-Sep 1910 Dublin.  It may all be a futile exercise, as apparently grandad's second marriage so soon after my paternal gran died, caused a great deal of angst in the family. As my dad was only nine when his mother died, he was apparently significantly less than enthusiastic to get a new mother only a year later.  This probably means few if any of the family remained in contact with Ellen, for as far as I know she had no children with Andrew.

Thanks again, if the certificate I have ordered throws up anything interesting, I'll let you know.

Rgds

Pete

[CaroleW]

Hi

Very best of luck