Mary (Wright) Williams (1840)

Born 24 Dec 1840 in Eccleston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Biography

This profile is part of the St Helens, Lancashire One Place Study.

Mary Trimble or Wright was born on 24 Dec 1840 in Eccleston, Lancashire. She was the daughter of Jane Wright (born out of wedlock). According to the FamilySearch tree entry for her, she was the daughter of Edward Horatio Trimble. She seems to have been registered at birth under her father's surname, as Mary Trimble, and also baptised as Mary Tremble, but according to the custom of the times, she should have shared her mother's surname, and her name in later records was Mary Wright. The birth certificate gives her father's occupation as stone mason,

Mary was christened on 21 Mar 1841 at St Helens Chapel of Ease in the parish of Prescot, Lancashire. Her father's occupation was recorded as stone mason, and the family's address as Eccleston.

By June 6th 1841, Jane was living in Eccleston, Lancashire with her mother Deborah, who was working as an agricultural labourer. Jane's three children John (8), Margaret (2) and Mary (5 months old) were living with them.

Mary's mother married William Appleton on 27 May 1844 at Farnworth Chapel of Ease in the parish of Prescot, Lancashire.

By March 30th 1851, the family were living in Copperas Street, St Helens. William Appleton was a labourer, as was Mary's brother John Wright. Mary's sister Margaret, now 12, was an errand girl.

Mary's sister Margaret married Joseph Maley on 29 Nov 1858 at Farnworth Chapel of Ease in the parish of Prescot, Lancashire.

By April 7th 1861, Mary was still single and living with her mother and stepfather in Eccleston Street, Eccleston. She was working as a Packer Assistant. The family had a boarder, 31-year-old James Maley from Wigan.

Mary married William Brandreth Williams on 12 Jul 1863 at the church of St Mary the Virgin in Prescot, Lancashire. Both were of full age (21 or more) and lived in Eccleston, and neither had been married before. William was a labourer. Their fathers were named as Edward Ellison Williams (labourer) and Thomas Wright (stone-mason). The witnesses were Henry Park and Thomas Jones.

By April 2nd 1871, they were living in Eccleston.

By April 3rd 1881, they were in Eccleston Street, Eccleston.

By April 5th 1891, they were still in Eccleston Street, Eccleston.

By March 31st 1901, they were still in Eccleston Street, Eccleston.

By April 2nd 1911, they were living in Windle.

Research Notes

The evidence for the connections in this family is weak, and it's possible there are errors. However, someone has gone to considerable effort to put together the FamilySearch tree and put together a confusing collection of records into a coherent whole, and if we accept the explanation that Jane lied about her marital status when registering her children's births and getting them baptised, and that Margaret and Mary Wright lied about their father's name in their marriage records, again to conceal their illegitimacy, it does hang together. Although it wasn't at all unusual in this area for a woman to have children by a man she wasn't married to, it would nevertheless have carried some degree of social stigma at the time, so the false names could be plausible.

One piece of circumstantial evidence linking the Maleys with this family is the fact that a James Maley (a labourer born in about 1830 in Wigan) was boarding in the household of Jane (Wright) Appleton in 1861. Lodgers or boarders were often, though by no means always, relations of the head of household, and Joseph Maley was born in about 1836 in Wigan, so there's a good chance James was his brother.

Census

1841: Eccleston

  Debbery Right 60 Ag Lab Y

  Jane do 30 Y

  John do 8 Y

  Margret do 2 Y

  Mary do 5m Y //

Sources

• Birth certificate: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/L8ZM-SP2

• Baptism: listed on Lancashire Online Parish Clerk

• Marriage: listed on Lancashire Online Parish Clerk

• "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ2G-5NV : 22 May 2019), Debbery Right, Prescot, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. Piece 516-06 folio 5 page 3

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGYH-JF7 : 12 September 2019), Jane Appleton in household of William Appleton, St Helens, Lancashire, England; citing St Helens, Lancashire, England, p. 26, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "General Register Office: 1861 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5903529ae9379091b15cb252 : viewed 8 Apr 2022), James MALEY in household of William APPLETON, 75, Eccleston St, Lancashire, England; from 1861 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives RG 9/2750, Folio 43, Page 7, Schedule 379, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZG1-W1K : 15 July 2021), Mary Williams in entry for William B Williams, 1871.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27L-TYJQ : 13 December 2017), Mary Williams in household of William B Williams, Eccleston, Lancashire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 45, Piece/Folio 3735/101, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,775,076.

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:77CB-YT2 : 23 February 2021), Mary Williams in household of William B Williams, Eccleston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9LJ-PCB : 21 May 2019), Mary Williams in household of William B Williams, St Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing St Helens subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWYM-HG9 : 12 August 2019), Mary Williams in household of William R Williams, Windle, St Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L8ZM-SP2