Parents of Mary Ann Gleeson?

Question

Hello!

Mary Ann Gleeson is our big family mystery. My great-great grandmother, Mary emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Brodick Castle in 1876 to live with her aunt and uncle, Mary Ann Gleeson (born 1836) and William Sloane. She went on to marry James Goodwin in 1880, and she passed away in 1939.

Sounds pretty put together, yeah? No. She's been a mystery for many years, both for myself and for another genealogist cousin of mine, because we have no idea who in the heck her parents are.

We believe that she was born in Leeds in approximately 1858. Given that her uncle was a Lester, it's likely that her mother's maiden name is Lester. We also know that, prior to being shipped out to New Zealand, she was in service for a family in Dublin and it was possibly something that happened in Dublin which caused her to be sent out here by her parents. We can't find any record of her parents—we've found three records of a Mary Ann Gleeson in Leeds around that time, but none of them fit the Mary Ann we're looking for.

In my original wording of this question, some of the information was incorrect. Initially, I mentioned that the uncle she came to live with was Philip Lester, which is incorrect. She lived with her aunt, Mary Gleeson Sr., and her husband William Sloane. Mary Gleeson Sr. was a sister of Philip Gleeson, born in Tipperary, Ireland. Discovered records of Mary and Phillip show their parents as James Gleeson and Julia Carroll. If anyone could find further children of Julia and James, it could lead us to identifying Mary's parents!

This has been a brick wall in our family for decades. Is there anyone with any further information on her?

Comments

Have you considered the possibility that Gleeson may not have been her maiden name? She may have been married before she emigrated.

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Another question: Could Philip Lester have been an uncle by marriage?

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Lynda,

Given her approximate birth year, she would have been 18 when she arrived here which makes it unlikely that she was married. We believe that the head of the household may have taken a liking to her, and that this was the reason she was sent away from Dublin.

With Philip, its true that its possible that he could be an uncle by marriage, but at least in my opinion it would be unlikely, because I do not believe that Philip was married.

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Birth in Leeds followed by service in Dublin is a fairly unusual sequence of events. Where did that information come from? Any more clues to be gleaned from those sources?

Answer 1

I assume that you have dismissed the Mary Ann Gleeson born in 1856 - Q1 1856 Leeds 9b,325, mother's maiden name McAndrew. She is on the 1861 and 1871 censuses with her parents Thomas & Frances, who were both born in Ireland, which may explain the Dublin connection.

Answer 2

Here are an obituary and her son's WWI service record. Both indicate she was born in Ireland.

Service Record

Obit:

Comments

Deb,

I'm actually in regular contact with Lauren, the woman who made that image of the obituary, and its from her information that her "early life in Leeds" was in service, and from her sources that Mary Ann was born in Leeds. In regards the service record: the reason that Mary Ann is so mysterious to us now is because she was mysterious with her own children. Mary Ann did in fact tell her children she was Irish; this is because her parents/grandparents were likely Irish themselves, though she was only in service there as far as Lauren and I can discover.

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Hmmm, then you may need to take anything you think you know so far with a grain of salt. You may have to expand your estimate of her birthdate. Although I have to say, it would have been quite unusual for a girl born in Leeds to have been in service in Dublin. It's possible that you will need to track down Phillip Lester and hope that you can connect him to her.

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Lauren has recently made a breakthrough regarding Mary Ann and her connection to her uncle. I'll update the question and see what more I can get.

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Records from findmypast.

First name(s)	Phillip
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1827
Baptism date	01 Jun 1827
Residence	Tinckelly
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	John
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632710#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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First name(s)	Mary
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1836
Baptism date	11 Feb 1836
Residence	Benneth Hill
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	John
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632712#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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Additional siblings, the first, Thomas, is probably a twin to Phillip:

First name(s)	Thomas
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1827
Baptism date	01 Jun 1827
Residence	Tinckelly
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	John
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632710#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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First name(s)	Patrick
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1825
Baptism date	29 Aug 1825
Parish	Drangan
Alternative parish names	Cloneen, Drangan and Cloneen
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	Jno
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632691#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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First name(s)	William
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1829
Baptism date	23 Jul 1829
Residence	Timkelly
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	Thos
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632711#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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First name(s)	Cath
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1832
Baptism date	27 Jan 1832
Residence	Timkelly
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	John
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632711#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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First name(s)	John
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1834
Baptism date	23 Apr 1834
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	John
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632711#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland

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This one may not be a sibling or maybe a half-sibling. Also, possibly the father's name is wrong.

First name(s)	Ellen
Last name	Gleeson
Birth year	-
Baptism year	1838
Baptism date	04 Jun 1838
Residence	Benneth Hill
Parish	Fethard
Alternative parish names	Fethard and Killusty, Killusty
Diocese	Cashel and Emly
County	Tipperary
Country	Ireland
Father's first name(s)	Thos
Father's last name	Gleeson
Mother's first name(s)	Anne
Mother's last name	Laffan
Repository	National Library of Ireland
National Library of Ireland link	http://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632712#page/1/mode/1up
Register	Baptism
Record set	Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Parish Baptisms
Collections from	Ireland