Eliza Mellsop (Merrick) Canavan (abt. 1852 - abt. 1912)

Born about 28 Sep 1852 in Tallow, Ireland

Ancestors

Died about 1912 at about age 59 in Cork, Ireland

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Biography

Bessie Mellsop Merrick became the postmistress in Tallow. This was gazetted in the Edinburgh Gazette, Jan 12, 1892. She was the daughter of Richard Merrick and Alicia Mellsop and remained in Ireland when her parents emigrated to Australia (and afterwards New Zealand).

In 1901 the Census shows she was living in Tallow. Relation to Head of House: Head; Census shows she was not married at this time. Occupation Postmistress.

It is believed she married John Canavan in 1903 when she was 51, but he died that same year, so she was then widowed.

Then in 1911 the census shows: Relation to Head of House: Head. Occupation: Postmistress. Widow. Address: Barrack Street; dwelling shows 10 rooms occupied; 1st class standard; owner Duke of Devonshire. The building is still standing, and remains in use as a Post Office as at 2016. The building appears on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, and is estimated to have been built in 1830. [1]

The Mellsop (New Zealand) Family website has the following biography (and speculations) which has been summarised here by a member of the Mellsop Family Reunion committee:

Eliza (Bessie) Mellsop Canavan - Irish Post Mistress Eliza Bessie was the first daughter born to Alicia and Richard Merrick, in Tallow, Eire in 1852. When her parents left to go to Australia in 1854, Bessie's mother Alicia was already pregnant with her second child, son Samuel who was born in Tasmania soon after the Hirondelle arrived Down Under.

It was perhaps because of her mother's condition that one year old Eliza Bessie was left behind in Ireland with her maternal grandnparents Thomas and Elizabeth Mellsop. Thomas was the Postmaster at Tallow, a post in which he was followed by his daughters Mary Jane and Catherine and eventually by his grand daughter Eliza (Bessie) as well.

In the 1901 census she is shown as Post Mistress at Barrack Street,Tallow, but was calling herself Bessie Mellsop Merrick, and was unmarried. Research by Alicia Merrick's great grand daughter uncovered evidence that Bessie married John Canavan who was also a post office official, but there appear to be no children from this marriage as it took place in later life. One marriage record located indicates they married in 1903 when Bessie was 50. A census in 1911 shows Bessie Mellsop Canavan aged 58 as a widow (occupation postmistress) living in Tallow, Waterford with two boarders who were employed as assistant post office personnel, so her marriage to John must have ended due to his death.

There is a suggestion that the family that emigrated to New Zealand and Australia probably remained in touch with Bessie because her brother, Thomas Mellsop Merrick, born in 1858 in Melbourne, named his first daughter Bessie Mathilda, possibly in honour of the sister left behind.

It was suggested that both John and Bessie died in 1909, however census information leads us to believe Bessie outlived her husband by a few years.

Sources

• Mellsop Family (New Zealand) website [2]
• Ireland - Censuses of 1901 and 1911
• Ireland, Civil Registration Marriages Index, 1845-1958 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Volume 5, Page 84, FHL Film no. 101260
• Ireland, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage [3]