I am having lots of troubles but immediate trouble with tracing info on my Granny Annie Harrison whose maiden name was HART.
My Grandparents were William James 'Jimmy' Harrison and Annie (Nee Hart).
The married in St Francis of Assisi RC church in 1919 and had 11 kids.
My Grandad WJ 'Jimmy' Harrison was from Garston, his parents Catherine (Kate) Gill and Edward (Ned) Harrison Lived next to each other in Vulcan Street (numbers 5 and 7) before marrying in St Francis of Assisi RC Church in 1895.
My Grandad WJ 'Jimmy' Harrison and Granny Annie Harrison (Nee Hart) always lived under the bridge in the married lives, in Vulcan Street to start with and ultimately 80 King St. So from the 1920s to the 1970s thats where they lived as a couple with their kids. Well grandad died in 1960 and in the 70s granny moved to the tenniments and there passed away in 1981.
I know of one sibling for Grandad - Emily (Nee Harrison; Wife of Tommy Mcnamara) (they also lived under the bridge)
And one sibling for Granny - Mary (Nee Hart; Wife of Andrew Doolan, married in 1912) (also lived under the bridge I think)In both cases - No idea if there were more siblings.
It seems Mary Hart was born in about 1893. And my Granny Annie Hart was apparently born in 1894ish, if I believe the newspaper obituarys I have which say she died in 1981 aged 87.
I personally wonder if Annie was born more like 1896/7/8. My dad thought his mother was born in 1897 but doesn't know why he thought that.
Its of little value but it seems my grandad was born in 1895 so if the obituarys of granny are right, granny was about a year and a half to two years older than grandad. And if she WAS born in 1894 she didn't marry till she was 25 and still went on to have 11 kids, the youngest when she was 46
I struggle to see it. Makes more sense to me that she married aged 20/21/22 and was at most 41/42/43 when pregnant with her youngest. 22 years of having kids every 2 years!
I am really struggling to place Mary and Annie in either the 1901 or 1911 census. Its possible by the 1911 census that Mary was independent I guess, or that both Mary and Annie were in Industrial Schools by then and registered as separate inmates? (struggling to get my head around whether industrial schools were schools or 'homes' for poor and orphaned kids)
But where were they in 1901? Even if 1911 is difficult to figure out, 1901 should not be.
My dad thinks that they either came from Garston or Woolton. The reason for thinking of woolton is tenuous but still, possible. Its that granny went completely deaf in her younger years working in the bobbin works in Garston. This meant she didn't keep very up to date with the world, and kept to just the people she knew (she had loads of kids, lived next to the Vic pub and knew plenty of people in King Street to keep her busy). Yet dad recalls her getting visits off someone known as 'the bear of Woolton'... possibly a person with mental health issues. She referred to him AS ' the bear of Woolton ' which means she knew him before she went deaf. It piqued dads interest that she referred to this man as such, and in any event - why would someone from Woolton come to visit her when Garston had always been her home and she never had reason to leave there or make associations out of the area as an adult? He seems to have been someone possibly from her childhood.
I found a Mary and Annie, children to a Thomas and Maria which MIGHT fit. Mary being born in St Helens in about 1893, Annie being born in Garston in about 1896/7 and them all living in Much Woolton in the 1901 census, where Maria was from; Thomas being from 'Liverpool'. Fits except for Annies alleged birth being in 1894.
Theres also a couple of Mary and Annie Harts being children in L'pool and Lancashire in general, but none fitting Annie being born in 1894.
If anyone has ideas. Knows anything about these people. Knows REALLY old people (affectionately speaking LOL. I should say 'Wise Elders' from under the bridge) from King Street area that might know my relatives. Or can shed light on the bear of woolton - let me know!
Looking to make contact with ALL RELATIVES so please get in touch if you are related or know of my family.
PS I was born and live in Australia and only spent a bit of time in Garston over the years, none at all since the mid 90s, so whilst passionate about the place, my knowledge of it is incomplete (so if you know anything, give lots of detail haha)
