Margaret (Graham) Gourley (1780 - 1844)

Born 29 Oct 1780 in Lying-in Hospital, Endell Street, Holburn, London, England

Wife of John Gourley — married 26 Feb 1797 in Saint George, East Stonehouse, Devonshire, England

Descendants

Died 1844 at about age 63 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland

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Biography

Records of the Lying-in Hospital at Endell Street in Holborn, Greater London, England, show that Margaret Grayham was born there 29 Oct 1780 and christened there 2 Nov 1780, the daughter of Edward Grayham, a linen-weaver from Glasgow Scotland, and Elizabeth his wife. The handwritten ledger is viewable on Ancestry.com and includes the name of a wealthy woman who was the Grahams' sponsor (benefactor).

Margaret and her parents were very fortunate indeed to receive this hospital's services. For a poor working-class couple, it was akin to being treated like royalty for three weeks. Both before and after the baby's birth, the new mother had the luxury of lying in bed, being waited on by servants and watched over by nurses, doctors, and midwives, and being fed three square meals a day.

The "lying-in" hospital was principally intended for the "wives of poor industrious Tradesmen or distressed House-keepers", and the wives of soldiers and sailors. It was exclusive for married women only. In order to qualify, Edward "Grayham" and Elizabeth may have been the following couple who were married only about 6 weeks before Margaret's birth: 18 Sep 1780, Edward Graham & Elizabeth Brown, married at the church of St. Martin in the Fields (a landmark church in the heart of London).

"Lost Hospitals of London" at http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/britishlyingin.html says the British Lying-In Hospital at 24 Endell Street, Covent Garden [London] existed from 1749 - 1913 as a maternity hospital. "The oldest maternity hospital in London, the Lying-In Hospital for Married Women opened at the end of 1749 with the Duke of Portland as its President. It had been established by a group of governors of the Middlesex Hospital, who were dissatisfied with the facilities available in that Hospital for women in labour. They purchased a house...and furnished it with 20 beds.

"The staff consisted of two physicians and two surgeons who practiced midwifery, a Matron skilled in the same, a chaplain, an apothecary, nurses and "other inferior servants".

"Women were admitted in the last month of their pregnancy - they were permitted to stay for three weeks - and needed a letter of recommendation from a subscriber/benefactor (patients were not charged by the Hospital), and two affidavits: one of their marriage, and another of their husband's settlement [the parish in which he legally resided].

"Patients received breakfast at 9 o'clock, lunch at 1 o'clock and supper at 7 o'clock. In the winter they went to bed at 8 o'clock and in the summer at 9 o'clock.

"At the beginning of labour, the physician or surgeon in attendance would be called to judge whether the birth would be an easy natural one and could be left to the Matron to deal with, or would need continuing medical involvement."

Apparently all went well, and Edward & Elizabeth soon afterwards moved further south, to Stonehouse in Devonshire, on the coast. Stonehouse was a suburb of Plymouth, England. Records show 7 additional children of Edward & Elizabeth Graham christened there: Samuel in 1783, Edward in 1786, Elizabeth in 1788, Nancy in 1790, Eleanor in 1792, Alexander in 1795, and John in 1798. All of these younger siblings of Margaret were christened in the Batter Street Presbyterian church in Plymouth, a "non-conformist" church since it was Scottish in origin.

The Grahams were apparently part of a community/congregation of Scottish people living semi-permanently in Southern England.

Margaret grew up in the Stonehouse neighborhood, and on 26 Feb 1797 she married John Gourley at St. George church in Stonehouse, Devonshire, England. Christenings at Batter Street Presbyterian show several children born to John & Margaret Gourley, including Elizabeth Gourley born 3 April 1801 and christened 20 April.

John & Margaret moved back to Glasgow Scotland, where their children grew up & married. Not much else is known about Margaret, except that in the 1841 Scotland census she was listed as Margaret Gourlay, age 60, birthplace England, a patient in the "Royal Infirmary" in Glasgow's St. Mungo parish, Lanarkshire, Scotland (1841 Scotland Census, Parish #644/1; ED Royal Infirmary; p.2).

Margaret died in 1844 according to family records passed down to descendants of her daughter Elizabeth Gourley Anderson in Utah. Elizabeth joined the LDS Church in Glasgow Scotland on 23 February 1847, and emigrated to America with her husband and children in 1849.

Sources

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JMPC-RJC : 30 December 2014, Margaret Grayham, 29 Oct 1780); citing LYING IN HOSPITAL ENDELL STREET,HOLBORN,LONDON,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 0916633 (RG8).

• "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N237-9H3 : 10 December 2014), John Jourley and Margaret Grayham, 26 Feb 1797; citing Saint George,East Stonehouse,Devon,England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 6,036,805.

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JMJJ-VW1 : 30 December 2014, Margaret in entry for Elizabeth Gourley, 03 Apr 1801); citing BATTER STREET-PRESBYTERIAN,PLYMOUTH,DEVON,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 590,694.