www.lancashirebmd.org.uk shows it was James Collins
Thank you, I didn't know about that site. And yes, I was confused in Reply #4. I caught the mistake a few hours later, but I already had shut things down for the night, or so I thought.
Since I didn't find an Ellen Collins marrying a Mr Riley in England after 1848, that Ellen Lilly - James Collins couple are probably someone else. In fact there is a James Collins (30) and Ellen (35) at 32 Canal St, Preston, in 1851, that might be them.
At any rate, I came to the same conclusion you did, that I am looking for an Ellen Lilly - Mr. Riley marriage in Ireland. And possibly an earlier marriage of Ellen (unknown maiden name) to a Mr Lilly. So back to the Irish records I go, but at least with another surname to help narrow things down.
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I don't know if Ellen Riley and Jane Carrigan are related. Ellen could have been a neighbor or landlady. That is what I why I am trying to find Ellen's maiden name. The more information I have when I start going through the Irish parish registers, the better off I will be.
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As for James and Elizabeth Carrigan who were living on Mt Pleasant St in Preston in 1861:
James is the son of Jane Gleason and James Carrigan. This I am sure of, from the American records. So a Jane Carrigan, widow of James, dying on Mt Pleasant St five years earlier, would be a likely candidate for being his mother.
-- Ed H