Ishmael Brierley - b. 1879 - listed as "Nephew" on 1901 Census

[crisane]

Ok, so you are probably not going to find out who his father is because she remarried very soon after his birth. You can find out her parents by ordering her marriage certificate.
What the connection is to Major and Ann Pickup is still to be found.

I am going to bang my head against the brick wall then I will take another look.

[newmodernist]

LOL!  Yeah.  I knew I wouldn't find his father - I just wanted to make sure his mother's last name was Brierley, and hopefully find her parents!  That second part is proving more difficult - now I have a mystery - how they're connected to the Pickups! I mean, it lists Ishmael as a nephew, so perhaps Alice had a sister who married a Pickup? Perhaps it's another generation back? 

This is quite the mixup for a beginning genealogist!

As I said before, this really means a lot to me, and I thank you for all the help provided.   In my early 30's I'm the oldest living member of my family, so I'd like to learn as much as possible about the relatives who've gone before so I feel a little less alone.

[newmodernist]

Okay - after staying up all night last night, I've figured a few things out.

Ishmael Brierley is the illegitimate son of Alice Brierley.

Alice Brierley's father was Ralph Brierley - I deduced this from a) The 1861 Census, and b) the fact that Major Pickup and his wife were present at the second marriage of Ralph Brierley:

Marriage: 19 Feb 1865 St Clement, Spotland, Lancs.
Ralph Brierley - 34, Black Smith, Widower, Water Street
Susan Griffiths - 34, Spinster, Brown Hill
    Groom's Father: Thomas Brierley, Slubber
    Bride's Father: Charles Griffiths, Dyer
    Witness: Major Pickup; Ann Matthew
    Married by Banns by: W. N. Molesworth
    Register: Marriages 1861 - 1873, Page 59, Entry 117
    Source: LDS Family Search

As Ralph was listed as widowed in the 1861 census (with a 9 month old child) his wife would've had to have died around 1860-1861.  I found a marriage record of a Ralph Brierley to a Matilda Ward in 1850, and a death record of a Matilda Brierley in 1861.

I'm still not sure how the Pickups fit into the whole thing, nor am I sure of other children from the Brierley-Ward marriage - since the '61 Census lists:

Alice 7 b Royton
Thomas 3 b Royton
John W 9 months b Saddleworth

but as of the 1871 Census,  while Alice is listed as being 17, Thomas is now somehow 18. 

Ralph Brierley   Self   M   40   Saddleworth, Lancashire
Susan Brierley   Wife   F   40   Manchester, Lancashire
Alice Brierley   Daughter   F   17   Rochdale, Lancashire
Thomas Will Brierley   Son   M   18   Rochdale, Lancashire
Emma Brierley   Daughter   F   5   Rochdale, Lancashire
Eliza Brierley   Daughter   F   3   Rochdale, Lancashire
Arthur Brierley   Son   M   3   Rochdale, Lancashire
Francis Mary Brierley   Daughter   F   1   Rochdale, Lancashire

If anyone can figure out how the Pickups fit in now that we have a bit more info to go on, it'd be muchly appreciated!

[PaulineJ]

Has anyone directed you to the Lancashirebmd site?  Some MMN  are included in births,  and marriage partners paired up.

[CaroleW]

Do the Pickups have to be biologically connected for Ishmael to be their "nephew"?  They could have been his honorary aunt and uncle if the Pickups were close friends of the family

The 1891 is the one to concentrate on as Ishmael is with the family. John Worrall married Alice Brierley in 1882 at St Peters Newbold

Does that marriage cert show her father as Ralph?

EDIT - yes it does

15.7.1882 - John Worrall 35 bachelor - Alice Brierley 28 spinster

Parents John Worrall occ grinder & Ralph Brierley occ blacksmith

Witmesses Frederick & Margaret Alice Leah/Leach