Margaret Wallas nee Harvey a.k.a. Kelley born Ireland c1832
I am trying to locate Margaret Wallace (Wallas) nee Harvey a.k.a. Kelley.
She was born probably in Ireland c1832 to parents Matthew and Susannah Harvey.However, Margaret was in the habit of aging by only 8 or 9 years every decade in later records, so if you know of her in later life she may well appear to be younger than she really was!By 1841 she was living in North Manchester, England, and spent occasions in the Workhouse.She married Forrester Wallace (born Lanarkshire, Scotland c1823) in Manchester Cathedral in 1851, later moving to Bolton then Bury, both in Lancashire.
Having given birth to at least 3 children - Martha c1852, James c1855 and Matthew in 1857 - her husband Forrester died in the Bury Workhouse Infirmary in January 1861.Margaret then seems to have disappeared – she was not recorded in the 1861 Census taken 3 months later.Family tradition is that she fled to America, leaving her youngest child Matthew (my great grandfather) with a neighbour.I have located the two older children living with their grandmother Susannah in Bolton in 1861, but there is no record of Matthew anywhere in England or Wales.
However, by 1871 Margaret was back in Bolton, living with a William Kelley.They are recorded in the Census as being married, but I can find no record of a marriage.I therefore suspect that her move to America occurred after 1861 and not before, and that her 'flight' may well have been to Ireland assuming she had not simply 'gone to ground' nearer home.
I have no definite information as to her whereabouts over the following decade, but her three children all married in 1875 and 1876 within 21 months of each other, and her mother died in 1878.It is possible from these events that Margaret was still around in Bolton until the late 1870s but was definitely absent by 1881.I assume she must have emigrated probably between 1878 and 1881.
I can find no definite shipping/immigration records for her as she may have travelled under the name of Harvey, Wallace (commonly spelled Wallis or Wallas) or Kelley/Kelly.Since her destination was 'America' she may also have travelled to Canada which, as part of the British Empire at the time, may imply she required little or no documentation.My 'best guess' find for her in the 1880 US Census is of a Margaret Wallace of the right age working as a laundress in Manhattan, NY – I can find no close matches in the Canadian Census of 1881.
Family oral tradition is that my great grandfather Matthew went to find his mother living in America, I calculate probably between 1882 and 1884.The tradition is that he walked across the country until he found her – highly improbable but would seem to rule out Manhattan as his ultimate destination!Having found her and following a violent argument, Matthew returned home to Bolton and never saw his mother again.Matthew died in 1942.
His older brother James was recorded as living in Bolton in 1881 but then disappears from all subsequent UK Censuses.I suspect but have no evidence that he too may have emigrated, perhaps to be close to his mother.He was married to Mary nee Mooney born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, and in the five years following their marriage they would appear to have had no (live) children.
Does any of this tie in with any of your family histories?