I have previously posted about my great, great grandmother, Mary Wilkinson. That was back in 2018 and since then I’ve realised that some of the information wasn’t quite right. I’d made assumptions based upon the information I had at the time that have turned out to be incorrect.

I had found a baptismal record for a Mary Wilkinson from March 1827 with the father recorded as William Wilkinson. This fitted but I couldn’t confirm the details. Further research has backed that up. Her parents were William Wilkinson, a labourer, and Martha Gailey. I do know from baptismal and other records that the couple had at least 6 children

• John Born 1824
• Mary Born 1827
• Samuel Born 1833
• Thomas Born 1836
• Sarah Born 1840
• Eliza/Elizabeth

The children were baptised by the Presbyterian church in Letterkenny, Donegal. They lived in Ballyboe Glencar in the parish of Conwal.

From my previous research I had found records relating to Mary using the surname Stewart as a married name but I could not find any record of a marriage in Scotland. Having narrowed down her birth place I was able to search again and found that on 3 December 1846 Mary married William Stewart, a labourer from Windy Hall which is also in the Parish of Conwal. Mary was recorded as being 19 years old. William’s age is not recorded, only that he is over 21. He was the son of a farmer called James Stewart. On this record William Wilkinson is recorded as a weaver. So despite what I had previously thought, Mary was indeed married.

I don’t know what happened to William Stewart or to the marriage but the next record I have for Mary sees her living in Glasgow. The address given is 21 St Enoch Wynd which is right in the city centre. Mary is just a visitor to the address and her occupation is given as housemaid so it is likely she and another housemaid, Cicilia Flin, were working for Samuel Crosbey, the head of the house, and his wife Grace while residing elsewhere. This information comes from the 1851 census which was recorded on 30 March of that year.

After leaving Ireland I have no idea what contact, if any, Mary had with her parents in siblings. In a record from 1871 she stated that her father was dead and she did not know the whereabouts of her mother. I’m struggling to find much information on the family in Ireland although do know that Martha had, for the time period, quite a long life. She died in the parish of Conwal in 1882.

In August 1852 Mary gave birth to her first child, a wee boy whom she named William. 1852 is before civil registration so we’re relying on church records which don’t hold a great deal of detail. It would seem that Mary is in a relationship with a man called William Duncan. A second son, John, was born in 1857.

There is a bit more information here. First of all the child is recorded as John Wilkinson. Mary is using her maiden name as she has done since arriving in Glasgow.

John was born in the early hours of the morning of 16 January 1857. It’s hard to imagine a worse start in life than being born in the Poorhouse but it would have given Mary access to a doctor and a place to stay at a time when she really needed it. She was still in a relationship with William Duncan at the time but clearly they were struggling financially.

Their usual place of residence at that was New Vennel in Glasgow. To say it was a rough area is something of an understatement. Newspaper reports from the time show it to be a hotbed of crime. In 1853 New Vennel was the locus of a murder, the victim of which, one Alexander Boyd, had the dubious honour of being the first murder victim to be buried in the famous Glasgow Necropolis. He was lured to the area by two women where he was subsequently robbed and killed.

So this is the life that my great, great granny was living at that time. Have a look at this link to see photos of the area taken around the time Mary was living there.

Mary had a number of stays in the poorhouse. I was saddened to find this document recording the death of baby John. He passed away in the place where he was born at just 14 months old as a result of measles. A busy day for the Governor’s Clerk at the poorhouse who had to register at least 3 deaths which occurred that day.

We move forward to 1861 and Mary is now living with my great, great grandfather Arthur Helferty. The census shows that they were living as man and wife but they were never married. Mary’s son William is part of the household along with Martha, Arthur and Mary’s first child together.

In May 1864 the couple have another daughter, Helen. It took me some time to find her birth record because it turns out she was not born in Glasgow as I would have expected but in Kilmodan, Argyll.

I discovered that for a period of 5 years Mary spent the summer months in Argyll and the winter months in Glasgow. I’d love to know more about that but I only have a few words written on a poorhouse record. I’m grateful for that of course. Otherwise I’d have been totally confused about Helen’s birth place.

That brings us then to the birth of my great granny Sarah Helferty. What’s interesting here is that Mary is using her married name Stewart and claims to be a widow. That part could be true. Arthur is with her when they register the birth so Sarah is recorded with her father’s surname, or at least a version of it. This record was the first time I’d seen the name Stewart in connection with Mary and I sort of assumed she had invented a husband to make her seem more respectable but it turned out to be true.

In the 19th century typhus was a major cause of death. Its victims were overwhelmingly the poor of the city. In fact, it was dismissed by the middle classes as being the result of filth and squalor and in their view it was seen as a punishment from God. Mary and her family lived in some of the poorest and most squalid streets in the city so it was inevitable that disease would strike the family. In January 1870 William succumbed to typhus fever.

I’m not his death record Mary gives her name as Duncan with her previous partner being now deceased.

While coping with the loss of her first born Mary has to deal with the fact that she is again pregnant and will have another mouth to feed. Her son was born in July 1871 and she named him William. Arthur was not with her to register the birth.

Poverty, sickness and sheer exhaustion all take their toll on Mary and on 2 March 1871 she was admitted to the poorhouse for the last time. The reason given was “prostration of strength and children”. She was admitted along with Helen and baby William. Sarah and Martha were patients in the fever hospital.

Mary died of tuberculosis on 17 March 1871. Her last document records her as a pauper. It’s such a sad word and even more so when it relates to family.

After her death the children were given into the care of Arthur’s sister Anne. The 1871 census was taken just a couple of weeks after Mary’s death. I was pleased to see the children living with their father. (William is on the next page)

William died that summer. All 3 of Mary’s sons passed away at a young age. Her daughters lived into adulthood and married and had children of their own. Sarah married Patrick Cosgrove and had just one child, a daughter she called Catherine. Catherine Cosgrove was born in 1900. She was my maternal granny.

In May this year I’ll be visiting Donegal. I’m excited to see where Mary started out. I know the area of Glasgow where she lived quite well. Of course it has changed a lot but you can still get the idea of what it would have been like. I can’t help think that there must have been times she regretted her decision to leave Ireland. Life was tough for Irish immigrants in Glasgow. They weren’t exactly welcomed. Mary wasn’t Catholic but Arthur and their daughters were so they would have faced a lot of prejudice. The living conditions in the slums were atrocious. She moved from lodging house to poorhouse. Surely, at times, she must have missed the fresh air of Conwal.

I’ll update this post on return from my trip. Hopefully I’ll have some new information or insights into Mary’s life.