Hi BAC3,
I am grateful for the work that you have done on the history of the Parkhurst boys. I want to honour your request regarding my ancestor with as detailed a response as I can generate.
As you point out, we can only infer the year of Edmund's birth by looking at other records, and it is anywhere between 1833 and 1838. It's possible that he was not even baptised and never had his birth registered. This would not be surprising because it does appear as though his family were poor, living in the densely populated low socioeconomic area of Somers Town in St Pancras, and otherwise experiencing tough times around the time he was born.
The earliest mention of his parents Francis Byrne and Anne is in 1818 on the baptism register for their son Francis Joseph Byrne in Crewkerne where the occupation is listed as 'Player'. Then in 1820, their daughter Mary Byrne was baptised in Chichester where the occupation for Francis Michael Edward Byrne is again 'Player'. The term 'player' covers both actor and musician, however it is still difficult to distinguish the details of his career mainly because almost all the theatre playbills only use surnames in the dramatis personae. There is an account of a play called 'The Fate of Frankenstein' 1824 in Stratford-Upon-Avon for the benefit of "Mr Byrne" where he ran around playing fiddle in between his acting parts. In the same town in the same month, there is a legal complaint against John Barnett for assault, where Francis Byrne is referred to as Irish. Edmund may have been as young as 1 year old when his father died in 1838 in Tom's Buildings on Ossulston Street, and it appears as though Edmund's older brother Francis Joseph Byrne (also a musician) was present at his father's death. There is a note on the burial indicating he was poor. Francis was listed as 43 years old when he died, and so working backwards would have him born around 1795. There is a Francis Byrne born in Southwark in 1795, but accounting for all the other clues, the most likely baptism is for Francis Michael Byrne in St Michan's Dublin in 1792.
Edmund Kean Byrne's mother Anne was witness to the marriage for Francis Joseph Byrne in Paddington in 1839. Then, in UK Census of 1841, Anne aged 40 lived in Phoenix Street, Somers Town, St Pancras with Edmund (8yo) and his siblings Henry (14) and Amelia (7). The census indicates that Edmund was born in the county of Middlesex, however the others were born out of county (Ann is not indicated to be born in Ireland). Then in 1845 Anne worked as a charwoman in Regent's Park which is not too far from Somers Town. Anne apparently died in 1847 in the Dean Street workhouse in the parish of St Margaret Westminster. Incidentally, Edmund Kean Byrne was recorded as living in the parish of St Margaret Westminster when he was committed for trial in 1845. I haven't found much else about Anne Byrne.
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