BOSWELL, Mary Ellen - which one?!

[odessa]

I wanted to look at this problem from another angle - I've looked at the 1901 and 1911 census for 24 Livingstone Road, Birkenhead (Tranmere) different families are resident 1901 and 1911, are either related to Mary Ellen Boswell in any way? Why did she have the child at that address? I'm wondering if you can identify if anyone else was living at that address in 1904? Perhaps through a Street Index or the Electoral Register - if so, were they connected to Mary Ellen Boswell? I can't imagine if she was a domestic servant at that address she would have stayed with the family in the later stages of a pregnancy or that she would have been able to maintain rent on a property by herself.
Also wondering how the link was established between Mary Ellen Boswell and the adoptive parents Walter & Mary Lyon?
Any Lily's or Lilian's in any of the Boswell families you've been looking at?

Odessa.

[TerriG]

Thanks Odessa for your reply. 

When I received the BC for Lilian, one of the first things I did was to put the address into Find My Past.  I've even viewed all the residents of the whole street for both 1901 & 1911!  The Carr family lived there in 1901, and the Thomas family in 1911.  The problem is that, at the moment, Lilian's family tree consists of her and her mother and, until I establish who her mother was, I'm a bit stuck.

The Lyon family lived at 129 Runcorn Road, Barnton in 1911.  On that census they are as follows:-

Walter Lyon(s) aged 37 Chemical Labourer b.1874 in Moulton, Cheshire
Mary Jane Lyon aged 30 b.1881 in Barnton, Cheshire
Lilian Boswell adopted, aged 6 b.1904 Barnton, Cheshire
Richard Plumb adopted, aged 3 b.1907 Barnton, Cheshire

My Gran (Doris Stokes) was born in 1918, so joined the family soon after.

Auntie Lily was always known as Lily Lyon, and she went on to work at ICI.

All along I've been looking for a link between the Stokes, Plumb & Lyon families.

One thing I did come across today was a marriage between a John J Boswell & Mary Lyon in West Derby in Jan/Feb/Mar 1918 which is very interesting.  I'm working on the Lyon tree to see if I can make a connection.

[odessa]

Hi Terri,

Marriage sounds interesting. I'll see if I can help with the Lyons, they are in my area.

One thing I did notice, the letter to the Lyons was signed E.Boswell. If this was from Mary Ellen Boswell, then it sounds as though she was normally using Ellen, so it may be that she appears on other documents as Ellen rather than Mary Ellen i.e. 1901/1911 census.

odessa

[kathb]

Hi, I see from cheshirebmd that Walter and Mary are recorded as marrying in 1900 in Northwich, a Civil Marriage.  Do you have a copy of this certificate?  Are there any clues in the names of the Witnesses to the marriage to make any link with a possible, Poole, Lyon, Plumb or Boswell connection.  There may also be a clue with the name of the officiating minister.  Did he know Mary Ellen Boswell (from when he was in another parish) and recommend the Lyon family to her or vice versa?  Often contacts for'adoptions' at this time were through the family vicar/minister/priest.
I hope this gives you some more avenues to search if you have not tried them already.
Regards
Kathb

[TerriG]

Hi Odessa.

Thanks for your offer of help with the Lyons.  I have a tree for them on Ancestry if that's any help.  Let me know if you require further details.

With regard to the letter from E Boswell.  When I was given the letter my first thought was that the writer was called Elizabeth, due to her putting "Beth" at the top of the letter.  When I received Lilian's BC and learned that her mother was Mary Ellen, this confused me somewhat.  I then thought that maybe Beth was an area of Llanfairfechan, so I Googled it, but this drew a blank.

I've had a look at a couple of Ellen Boswells, 1 was on 1901 census aged 15 with her family living in Oak Street, Birkenhead.  I looked at FreeBMD which confirms she was registered Ellen (not Mary Ellen).  The second one I looked at was a servant in Toxteth Park in 1901.  She was born in 1884 in Liverpool, but was also given the name Ellen.

Hello Kathb

Thanks for your input.  I will attach Walter & Mary Jane's MC on separate posts (files are too large), which doesn't immediately give any clues.

Terri

[TerriG]

Transcript of Marriage Certificate

When Married: Twenty Second September 1900
Name and Surname of Groom: Walter Lyon
Name and Surname of Bride: Mary Jane Poole
Age of Groom: 25 years
Age of Bride: 20 years
Condition of Groom: Bachelor
Condition of Bride: Spinster
Rank or Profession of Groom: Labourer at Alkali Works
Rank or Profession of Bride: - - - -
Residence at the time of Marriage of Groom: 25 Faraday Road , Winnington
Residence at the time of Marriage of Bride: Ivy Bank, Lydiate Road Lane, Barnton
Father's Name and Surname of Groom: William Lyon
Father's Name and Surname of Bride: Enoch Poole
Rank or Profession of Father of Groom: Blacksmith
Rank or Profession of Father of Bride: Waterman
Married in the Wesleyan Chapel, according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Wesleyan Methodist, by Certificate by me, George Lawpand[?] Minister Alfred Hrald[?] Registrar
This Marriage was Solemnized between us {Walter Lyon, Mary Jane Poole} in the Presence of us, {Albert E. Lyon, Mary Louisa Bagshaw}

[kathb]

Hi, this is a very long shot and may not be 'your' Mary Ellen Boswell.  I just googled Mary Ellen Boswell and that name appears on the memories section of Frith postcards.  I suggest you do the same and have a look. It is located to a town named Gorseion in West Glamorgan.
Worth a look if you haven't seen it before. Is it possible to post just the section of the marriage certificate showing the witness names and that of the minister?  It might be possible to track the whereabouts of the minister if we can decipher his last name. I see on findmypast that Richard's birth was registered in Northwich.  On Findmypast in Moulton is a fairly sparse record of a baptism of a 'Plum' child to a single mother, the majority of the record has not been completed, but it is the correct year for Richards birth.  As the Walter Lyon was from Moulton this might explain the contact for the adoption of Richard Plumb. 
Regards
Kathb

[kathb]

Hi, TerriG, just another suggestion if you have not already tried this, but try posting the Beth, Llanfairfechan address on the Welsh Board of this site.  I tried googling this and the majority of the replies were in Welsh.  I am sure if there is an area of Beth that someone on the Welsh Board would be able to help.
Regards
Kathb

[TerriG]

Hi kathb

I've looked that the Frith website - very interesting.  I think I'll send the person who created it a message asking if her grandmother could read & write.

With regard to Richard Plumb - I hadn't seen that Parish Register before, so that was intriguing.  I've got that he was born in June of that year, so that makes it even more possible.

I'm going to post the Beth question on the Wales board as you suggested.

Thanks.  Terri