Mary Hardy born 1853 and family - Falkirk

[akissling]

I am trying to find more records from Falkirk relating to Mary Elizabeth Hardy (Hardie) and her family. We believe she is Mary Elizabeth Hardy who married Edward Keane in Auckland, NZ in 1866. According to the birth record of one of her children she said she was born in Falkirk (reported the birth herself). In her death record her father's name is listed as William. There is one birth record-Falkirk West Relief, 1853 (listed church is "other"). The parents were William Hardie and Ann McAlpine. I found their marriage in 1852 (Old Parish Registers Marriages 479/ 130 319 Falkirk). The records for Falkirk West stop in 1855 so if they had more children after Mary, they aren't listed. I can't find the family in the 1861 census in Scotland or England or death records of the parents. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[wivenhoe]

Is this your KEANE / HARDY family?

NZ BDM marr
1866/4372  HARDY Eliza   m.  KEANE Edward

NZ BDM births
1866 / 23671      KEANE William Barnard  ps. Eliza / Edward
1868 / 13660      KEANE Charlotte            ps. Elizabeth / Edward
1872 / 15077      KEANE Janet                 ps. Elizabeth / Edward
1882 / 9145        KEANE Laura Annie        ps.  Elizabeth / Edward

And you are thinking that Mary, born Falkirk  1853, might be your Elizabeth....13 year old bride?

Can you please list all the information on the marriage certificate, 1866, that you have.

Can you please list all the information on the death certificate for Elizabeth KEANE.

[Forfarian]

The records for Falkirk West stop in 1855 so if they had more children after Mary Elizabeth, they aren't listed

This is probably related to the fact that statutory civil registration of births, marriages and deaths started in 1855. Before then, the only records kept were the churches' records of baptisms, banns and burials.

There is an (incomplete) index to pre-1855 baptisms and births from 1855 to 1874 at www.familysearch.org but it does not list any children of William Hardie and Ann McAlpine.

Do I take it that you have failed to find a record of Mary Elizabeth arriving in NZ?

I will be astonished if a girl born in 1853 married in 1866, at the age of only 12 or 13. It was legal in Scotland for a girl to marry at 12, but I have never come across a reliably documented case in the 19th century. How old does her marriage certificate say she was in 1866?

Her name also gives pause for thought. It was unusual in the early 19th century to give a child two names, and when this was done, the second name was usually a surname from an earlier generation of the family. I see that the NZ DIA marriage index lists her as Eliza. Why do you think she was Mary Elizabeth?

What does her marriage certificate say her father's name and occupation were?

The NZ DIA deaths index lists the death of an Elizabeth Keane in 1907, aged 67. This, if correct, suggests a date of birth in 1893 or 1840, which makes far more sense. Is this the death certificate you have?

There is a family in the 1851 census (transcription at https://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl) consisting of John Hardie, 34, nailer; Elisabeth Hardie, wife, 34; children John, 13, apprentice nailer; Elisabeth, 11; Ann, 9; Jane, 6; and Mary, 4. In the index to the 1861 census John, 43; Elizabeth, 44; John, 23 andd Mary, 13 are still in Falkirk, but Elisabeth Jr, Ann and Jane are not in the household, so must have left home - could one or more of them have gone to NZ?

[akissling]

Thanks Forfarian and Wivenhoe. There are a lot of details around Mary Elizabeth that would take up many pages but I will give you the quick run down. We know that Mary Elizabeth went by Eliza or Elizabeth in NZ. Yes, she was that young when she married Edward and then had their first child about a month or so later. She took Edward to court when Laura Annie was born to get him to pay for support (found in Paperspast) and he claimed that Laura was not his child. We know that Mary Elizabeth and her surviving children Charlotte, Janet and Laura Annie to Australia. All three girls married in Sydney and their mother went by Mrs Elizabeth Keane (they lived in Redfern for many years). There is evidence that she is in Victoria in the  and then Sydney where she died. The death certificate is how we figured out that her full name was Mary Elizabeth thanks to this post http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=774689.9
Her father's name is listed as William but no occupation is written in the box. I will add more detail on the births when I am home with the records in front of me.
Thanks for the background on Falkirk records. That is very helpful! It is also correct that we have no evidence of her coming into NZ. I wondered if her father was in the 58th Regiment or another regiment that ended up in New Zealand but can't find evidence of that either. We are hoping that if we can find out more about her Scottish roots we can not only push her tree back further but maybe we can see how she came to NZ. Thanks again!

[Forfarian]

I wonder why she used Eliza in 1866, but Mary Elizabeth after she arrived in NSW?

[akissling]

I am assuming Eliza was her nickname. The rest of the time she used Elizabeth. It was the death certificate that pointed to her real full name.

[akissling]

Here is the marriage information:

Feb 16, 1866 St Andrew's Church Auckland
Edward Keane full age Ship Carpenter bachelor
Eliza Hardy minor no occupation listed spinster
Both signed the certificate
Witnesses Frank Amodeo Sailor Wynyard Pier (singned)
               Sarah Lorigan (we think??? or Lonergan-potential related to Frank's future wife) Edward Street (marked with an X)
Minister D ?

Death certificate:
Date and place: 30 Nov 1928 State Hospital Newington formerly 3 Short Street
Name: Mary Elizabeth Keane
Age: Female 76
Name and occupation of father: William Hardy (no occupation listed)
Name and occupation of mother: blank
Certified by W. McGarvey manager State Hospital

We know she lived on Short Street before she died. She had two daughters in Sydney but are waiting for the birth certificates in the hopes that there will be more information listed. The two other daughters were Ada (b. 1888) and Beatrice (b. 1891).
Thanks!

[wivenhoe]

Can you please include all the information asked for on the death  certificate, 1928, NSW.

[akissling]

Sorry, I missed place of birth which is listed as England but again, on the birth certificate of one of her children she states it is Falkirk (she registered the birth herself). My assumption is that the state hospital got information from someone other than Mary Elizabeth. The rest of the information is her cause of death and undertaker etc. I will add that later today when I can look at the certificate again.