Jane (English) Magill (1881 - 1966)

Born 25 Sep 1881 in Woodburn, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Aaron Magill — married 27 Dec 1899 in Mariners' Church, Belfast

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1966 at age 84 in City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

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Biography

Jane English was born on 25 September 1881 in Woodburn, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, the second of six children of Alexander English, a labourer, and his wife Agnes, née Connor. By 1883 the family were living in Black Row, Carrickfergus; from 1884 to at least 1886 they were in Ellis Street, Carrickfergus. By 1888 they had moved to 1 Galway Court, Belfast. Her father died in 1891 at 26 Canmore Street, Belfast.

In 1898 she was living at 3 Morpeth Street, when she married Thomas Magill, a labourer, of 7 Crimea Street. Their first child, Agnes, was born the following year at 13 Arkwright Street, but died of ulceration of the navel at just six weeks old at 30 Springfield Village.

They were at 8 Dundee Street in the 1901 census, and had moved to 17 Dundee Street by the time their second child, Thomas (Tommy), was born on 5 December 1901. By this time Thomas senior was in South Africa, fighting in the Boer War with the 74th Imperial Yeomanry. He returned late in 1902, and went to work as a driller in the shipyard.

Their third child, John, was born in 1904 at 13 Tyne Street, and their fourth, Joseph (Joe), was born in 1906 at 90 Railway Street. John died of broncho-pneumonia in 1907 at 37 Sussex Street. A fifth child, John James, was born in 1909 at 5 Abbey Street West, and a sixth, James, in 1911 at 59 Kyle Street. In the 1911 census the family were at 60 Kyle Street.

Jane and Thomas both signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912. Jane was living with her mother at 32 Lindsay Street, while Thomas was at 26 Lisavon Street. From then on, Mrs Jane Magill is the named householder at 67 Skipton Street (1913-14), 69 Skipton Street (1916-32) and 276 Albertbridge Road (1934-1966) in the Belfast Street Directories. After their estrangement a seventh child, Andrew, was born in December 1912 at 67 Skipton Street, but died of broncho-pneumonia after only three weeks.

In 1914 James died of shock following an accidental scald at the Ulster Hospital on Templemore Avenue, aged only three. He had pulled a saucepan full of boiling soup over himself while playing.^[1]

Jane's older brother Alexander (Sandy) had signed up with the Royal Inniskilling Fusilers to fight in the First World War, and was killed on the Somme on 1 July 1916. This may have been the cause of a reconciliation between Jane and Thomas. Their seventh child was born at 69 Skipton Street on 29 March 1917, and was named Alexander (Alec) after him. Thomas was present at the birth. On 13 April the same year, John James died of typhoid fever at Purdysburn Hospital, aged 9.

Jane and Thomas became estranged again. When Thomas died in an accident at the shipyard in 1930 he was living in a men's hostel. Jane supported the family by working as a dressmaker.

Tommy junior joined the Navy as a stoker, and some time in the late 1930s married Etta Hanna. They had two sons. Tommy died in 1942 when his ship, the HMS Grove, was sunk off Egypt. Joe married Madge McClure, and they had a son and a daughter. Alec married Josie Totton in 1938, and they had three daughters.

Jane died of a heart complaint at 51 Lisburn Road in 1966.

Sources

1. ↑ Belfast News Letter, 3 February 1914

• Family information
• Civil birth record, GRONI
• Civil marriage record, GRONI
• 1901 census: 8 Dundee Street
• 1911 census: 60 Kyle Street
• Signature on Ulster Declaration, 1912 (32 Lindsay Street)
• Belfast Street Directories, PRONI
• Civil death record, GRONI
• Burial plot at Belfast City Cemetery