Lost Great Grandmother, Mystery adopted child & Transported for Murder

[CaseySmith]

My Great Grandmother born Katherine (Kate) Casey 1865 St Helens Lancs disappears after the 1901 Census when she abandoned her husband & family in Thornley County Durham. She married Francis Smith 5 April 1888 in Burnley Register Office (Marriage Cert held) & by 1901 had two children - Norah Smith bn 1891 Burnley & Francis Smith bn 1895 in Thornley Co. Durham (birth cert held). The 1911 Census has her husband living with an Uncle in Shotton & her son Francis living in Thornley with the mysterious "adopted" daughter married to Cuthbert Raffael  5 September 1908 (Cert held) where her name is given as Vera Bickley Aged 19 but all details re her father are blank. The 1891 & 1901 Census record her as Vera E Smith daughter of Francis & Kate bn Chester est year 1891. The only Bickley birth in Chester I could find was for Elizabeth 6 July 1890 Chester & on sending for that Certificate it was clear this was not Vera E Smith/Bickley. Does anyone know how I can find out who this child was? I had thought she may be the illegitimate daughter of Kate but she was married to Francis Smith by 1891. And any suggestions on how to find Kate Casey/Smith after 1901? She was barely mentioned in the family apart from "being a bad lot" & the topic closed. As to the Transported for Murder family rumour has it that a Casey ancestor was transported to Australia for murder from Ireland but I've got slightly lost searching for that man too. Can anyone help me there please - Kate's father Paul Casey 1837 only has Ireland on the 1861 Census record & his wife Margaret Mahon/Mahan 1840 Roscommon Ireland. I have her 1911 Census & Kate is not shown on it. I'd be very grateful for any leads/pointers/suggestions on any of the above queries.
Thank you. Sue

[Rosinish]

My Great Grandmother born Katherine (Kate) Casey 1865  She married Francis Smith 5 April 1888 & had two children - Norah Smith bn 1891 Burnley & Francis Smith
The 1911 Census has her son Francis living in Thornley with the mysterious "adopted" daughter married to Cuthbert Raffael  5 September 1908 (Cert held) where her name is given as Vera Bickley Aged 19 but all details re her father are blank. The 1891 & 1901 Census record her as Vera E Smith daughter of Francis & Kate bn Chester est year 1891

Hi Sue,

Jings............a lot to take in   

Not sure exactly where the "mysterious adopted daughter" fits here in relation to Francis

Could she have been the daughter of Catherine "playing away from home" & her father Bickley???

Sorry but it's a bit confusing 

Annie


ADDED............Who is she with on the census as Vera E Smith

[CaseySmith]

Hello Annie, Thanks for looking at my message & it is confusing with two Francis Smiths in the equation:( The mysterious Vera E was known by the family,raised as a Smith & referred to as a Smith in the 1891 & 1901 Census & it wasn't till I found Francis Smith born 1895 Thornley (son of Francis & Kate) living with her on the 1911 Census & I saw she was married to a Cuthbert Raffael that I looked for her marriage registration to discover she was married (Spinster at the time) with the name Bickley. She was well loved in the Smith family & I feel that if Francis Smith had been her father his details would have been entered on the Marriage Certificate instead of the blank space. Of course it is possible that she is the child of Francis Smith Senior and an unknown lady but I can't find a Vera E Smith birth in Chester for the time either. Hope I haven't confused the story even more:( There is a family legend but I'm sure you know how unreliable they are that Vera was fathered by a Catholic priest but..........! that doesn't help as to who her mother was & how she came into the Smith family aged 10 months on the 1891 Census. Perhaps this is a mystery that can't be solved?
Sue

[Rosinish]

Hi Sue,

Have you tried searching for a Vera E...........surname blank in & around the area as this may turn up with something 

Annie

[Rosinish]

Sue,

Do you know if Catherine had any female siblings who may have married a Bickley & have you found any other Bickleys in the area on census records 

Vera could be a daughter of a sister who possibly died 

Annie

[barryd]

"Transported for Murder"? That seems a bit unusual! I thought that hanging was the usual penalty for murder in those days. 

[majm]

....... As to the Transported for Murder family rumour has it that a Casey ancestor was transported to Australia for murder from Ireland but I've got slightly lost searching for that man too. Can anyone help me there please -

Hi there,  Welcome to RootsChat. 

  What information do you already have re the person transported to Australia ....   

  Transportation to the colony of New South Wales effectively ended in 1840.   At that time, the colonies of Victoria and Queensland had not yet been hived off from NSW.   
  He may have been transported to the colony of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), transportation effectively ceased to VDL in 1853. 
  Transportation of convicts to the colony of Western Australia did not commence until 1850 and had ceased by 1868. 
  The colony of South Australia was purposedly established by Britain to be without any penal settlements, so no convicts were sentenced to transportation to SA.

In all, there were about 160,000 persons transported to the colonies from 1787 to 1868.   The huge population growth in the colonies is usually attributed to the Gold Rushes 1850s and later, and to the Assisted Emigration Schemes, some from 1840s, but many in the latter part of the 19th Century. 

There's fairly good online resources for Convicts transported to Tasmania ....

Here's the live link to RChat's :

Australia Board http://www.rootschat.com/forum/australia/

Australia's "How to Request a Look Up" thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=368728.0

Australia's Resources Board (with child boards for each of the states and territories)
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/australia-resources-offers/

Cheers, JM