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2 x Great Grandfather: James BAILEY (1851 - 1892)



James BAILEY (1851 - 1892)

James' childhood

My great great grandfather James Bailey was born on the 11th January 1851 in Pownall Fee in Cheshire, just south of Manchester1.  James' parents were James Bailey, a provision dealer and Elizabeth Bailey nee Renshaw2.  When James was born his father, James Sr. was 36 and his mother Elizabeth was 29.  At the time of birth James had an older brother John whose age is unclear (born 1834 on the 1851 census3 and 1839 on the 1861 census4).

On the 1851 census James was living with his brother and parents in Macclesfield, Cheshire5.

In 1854, when James was 3, his younger brother Mark was born in Cheadle, in Cheshire6.

In 1860, when James was 9, his younger sister Ellen was born in Cheadle, in Cheshire7.

1861 census

In 1871, when James was 20, he was living in Cheadle in Cheshire8.

In 1873, when James was 22, his brother married Catherine Hirst in the Stockport district.

I have yet to find James on the 1881 census.

Married Life

At some point James met Eleanor Jean Bailey (same surname, no known relation).  I have not been able to find a marriage record, but later documents give her as his wife, that she was born in Scotland and was 8 years his junior9.

On the 29th April 1882 James' son, James, was born in his family home in Hulme, an area just south of Manchester city centre (street name to be confirmed when I finally translate the handwriting!) where James worked as a journalist10.

In the prior century Hulme had been largely an agricultural community.  When the industrial revolution hit Manchester became a power house fuelled by the cheap coal that passed through Hulme.  Hulme in turn grew to house the urban poor of the industrial revolution and by the 1880s was a cheap slum town.  During the 1880s Manchester as a whole was suffering through the Long Depression and unemployment levels were high.  This was exacerbated by reliance on the port of Liverpool which charged high docking fees, until the Manchester Ship canal was built in 1893.

On the 21st May 1884, James' second son Harry was born in the family home of Rhine Street in Hulme.  James was still working as a journalist on the birth certificate 11.

At some point the family move to Leeds and are living there on the 31st March 1891 when the national census took place12.

In the last quarter of 1892, when James was 41 years old his death was registered in the district of Skipton in the West Riding of Yorkshire leaving behind his 33 year old wife and his two sons aged 10 and 813. 

1. See James' birth certificate registered in the first quarter of 1851.
2. See James' birth certificate registered in the first quarter of 1851.
3. See 1851 census (full reference details TBC).
4. See 1861 census (full reference details TBC)
5. See 1851 census (full reference details TBC).
6. See 1861 census (full reference details TBC).
7. See 1861 census (full reference details TBC).
8. See 1871 census (full reference details TBC).
9. See 1891 census (full reference details TBC).
10. See 1891 census (full reference details TBC).
11. See 1891 census (full reference details TBC).
12. See 1891 census (full reference details TBC).
13. See James Sr.'s death register registered in the last quarter of 1892.


Comments

  1. StaggieHaggis17 January 2020 at 06:43

    Ed you will find that the eldest son Johns family were linked to a reverend in Carlisle, very well off.
    Also remember that James Bailey was disowned from the family when he married Minnie Rouse for "marrying beneath him".

    ReplyDelete

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