On no census do we have Mary Ann living with her husband. So i think we can say that they were estranged, not long after marriage, and the birth of son Robert in 1869.
In 1871 Mary Ann is living with her mother and sister, and son John. Son Robert is with his aunt.
In 1876 Mary Ann’s son John dies.
In 1881 Mary Ann’s only other son Robert, is living with his Aunt (father’s sister) who takes him to USA in 1884.
Mary Ann cannot be found on the 1881 census in Scotland, or there after.
If Mary Ann was still alive in 1884, I don’t think she would have let her only living son go off to USA.
She disappeared, possibly died, between 1876 and 1884, probably between 1876 and 1881. Or there was some other serious problem, that meant she was incapable of looking after a child.
If she was working as a servant, she might not be able to care for a child. I came across a couple of possibles for her working as a servant in England in 1881 census, but there is not enough information to know for certain it is her.
Is there any mention of Mary Ann on her mother’s death cert of 1886?
