Mystery Man Edward Townsend Foley

[mckha489]

What are the possible surnames you have?

[Jamjar]

Maria's death notice, 1919, states 'at her residence'. So separated, divorced, he deceased. I am beginning to think there was only one Edward Townsend.1st column:

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28095854

Jamjar

Knew you would come round to my way of thinking 

Yes, just needed to go through the never ending process of elimination. 

So, if this is the case, what happened to the Mary he married in VIC? It's possible he simply lived with Maria.

The daughter Grace Matilda never married. Her death notice, 1970, first page:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19700528&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

Jamjar

[majm]

In my experience, when researching ... well .... Any woman in Sydney in that era who may have had (even if no longer had) a husband, was known as Mrs never as Miss and with a surname of xyz .... xyz could be her birth surname, or any other name she chose to be known by - and she could vary it at all.  But if admitted to hospital eg Newington or perhaps Sydney Hospital up on Macquarie St, ... she would likely give her formal surname - so the one she gave for the birth and death of her child.

Mrs Megan the midwife,  could be Megan was the given name and the clerk presumed ...   

JM

[odysseyov]

Yes, JM you are absolutely right about names.   The name she gave for the birth/death was her married name - but she has not used it anywhere else.   There is no death record for her, and a search through all the records in her married name yields nothing.   So here I am clutching at straws ...

[mckha489]

What are the possible surnames you have?

[odysseyov]

Murphy is her birth name - no birth certificate but stated on her marriage certificate age 18, (permission given by an adult cannot find a relationship, married in NZ, have the Certificate and Intention to marry, No clues).   Married name, Minton, separated 1880;   16 years difference in age with husband and taking a long bow suspect she left him (and her five children) for someone else, so assume she lived under someone else's name;  there is no record of her after the death of the infant.   The only clues I have are where she was living at the time (20 Exeter place) and the name of the infant, Maude Alice a total difference from the other children's names which were rather posh, and Mrs Megan witness to the birth.   The one Mary who showed up in Newington Asylum was a Mary O'Neil - note the spelling - and there are a couple of references to same in SMH.   That's all I have 
 

[odysseyov]

Megan is not listed as a popular name in 1800s but you could be right JM

[majm]

Megan ..... as in M'gan as in Mcgan as in McGan

   not a long bow between Megan and McGan

Off to hunt out any there...

JM

[odysseyov]

Whee - had a second closer look at Megan and you are right (are you always right  ?) JM it looks more like Mcgan - so please try that wherever you are looking     I seem to have run out of inspirations ...