Hello,
This is my first post in Roots Chat, so please forgive me if it's in the wrong spot.
I'm unraveling a mystery and my current brick wall is with by g,g grandfather, Francis Joseph McNally (FJM).
I recently found the church registry of his marriage (17 JUN 1908 / St. Michael, Philadelphia PA) which indicated that he was baptized on 31 JAN 1878 in Liverpool, England by Father James Nugent. I had always believed that his date of birth was 31 JAN 1878 and that he was born in Philadelphia. I never could find a birth certificate for him anywhere in the USA. Four of his siblings were baptized Philadelphia between 1868 and 1875, three at St. Michael's and one at another church. I have their records from the relevant church registries, but have never found a civil birth record for any of them (in the USA).
As I've begun looking in and around Liverpool for FJM's birth record, I discovered that he appears to have been deserted at Kirkdale Industrial School 4 SEP 1800 at the age of 2 along with two brothers (George, deserted 17 SEP 1880, and Henry, deserted 4 SEP 1880) and two sisters (Mary Ann and Rebecca; deserted 4 SEP 1880), and someone who may be a cousin or another sibling - Thomas McNally; deserted 4 SEP 1880. The ages of each of the children appear to line up with the ages found in the other baptismal records I have (for George, Mary Ann - I don't have Rebecca's) and with the City of Philadelphia Death Certificates that I have (for FJM, George, and Rebecca). The Kirkdale records that I have for these children state that they were born in Prescot, Lancashire, England. But I don't know who the informant was for that given that they were deserted - and I have a baptismal record for all but FJM and Rebecca (and Thomas) in Philadelphia.
I believe the mother of all of these children (except Thomas) is Rebecca (McLaughlin) McNally. I've found an admission to Kirkdale Workhouse for Rebecca (the mother) 30 DEC 1877. It's noted that she's in the "lying in" area of the workhouse, her husband is "James" (which tracks with my other records), and that James is a publican; "where slept last night" has the entry "Friar Street Everton" and in the last column, it reads "Prisoner". The record also includes a "÷" notation, except that the slash is tilted, like this: ∕ . It appears after her last name on the record, and before the word "Prisoner". I've found one record for a Rebecca McNally (from 1865, Wolverhampton) for larceny with a sentence of 1 year, and another record of a Liverpool trial on 3 JAN 1878 for Rebecca MACNally and her husband (James MACNally) convicted of stealing and sentenced to 1 year hard labor. The latter record makes reference to the 1865 larceny for Rebecca - so it appears to be the same Rebecca although McNally is spelled differently in the two records.
So, my questions are:
- Would a pregnant woman have been moved from jail into a workhouse to give birth in the late 1870s? Or, would a pregnant woman have been admitted to a workhouse while she awaited trial?
- I know that Father Nugent served as a pastor in the Liverpool Jail for many years, and was involved in child welfare his whole life. What records would I check to see if Fr. Nugent baptized JFM in either a jail or the workhouse?
I have later records of these children being discharged from Kirkdale and coming to the USA - 1882. They do not include an adult Rebecca - I suspect she may have died there, but have not record of that. All death certs and US Censuses that I have for the children and their father, James, indicated that James and Rebecca (the mother) were born in Ireland, although I have no proof of that yet. I suspect James and Rebecca emigrated to the US after her 1 year sentence in 1865 for larceny and settled in Philadelphia. Then, it appears they went (back?) to Liverpool with several of their children - and had 1-2 more children there before being convicted of stealing. I just can't figure out why they went to England... any thoughts/hypotheses appreciated!
