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2 x Great Grandmother: Eleanor Jean BAILEY nee BAILEY (1859 - 1913)



Eleanor Jean BAILEY nee BAILEY (1859 - 1913)


Eleanor's childhood

My great great grandmother Eleanor Jean Bailey was born on the 13th January 1859 in
Edinburgh in Scotland1.  Eleanor's parents were John George Bailey and Jane Bailey nee Keal 2. 

Shortly after her birth Eleanor's family moved to England and in 1861, when Eleanor was 2 her younger brother Hubert was born in Bristol3.

In 1863, when Eleanor was 4, her younger sister Ada was born in Bristol4.

In 1865, when Eleanor was 6, her younger sister Mary was born in London5.  It is unclear from records why the birth was in London or how long the family were in London.

In 1868, when Eleanor was 9, her younger sister Agnes was born in Bristol6.

In 1870, when Eleanor was 11, her young brother Charles was born in London7.

In 1876, when Eleanor was 17, her young brother Arthur was born in Manchester8.

On the night of the 1881 census, when Eleanor was 22, she was living with her mother, now aged 42 and her 6 siblings at 67 Cottenham Street, in Chorlton On Medlock in Lancashire.  As her mother is listed as head of the household it is probable that Eleanor's father had died.  At the time of the census was working as a waitress on Inn Street, her younger brother Hubert was hatters salesman and two of her younger sisters were machinists9.

Married Life

At some point James meets 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 he was 8 years her senior10.

On the 29th April 1882 Eleanor's 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 journalist11.  James appears to be a popular name for first born sons in her husband's family.

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, Eleanor's second son Harry was born in the family home of Rhine Street in Hulme.  Eleanor's husband, James, was still working as a journalist on the birth certificate 12.

At some point the family move to Leeds and are living there on the 31st March 1891 when the national census took place13.

In the last quarter of 1892, when Eleanor 33, her husband the death of her 41 year old husband James was registered in the district of Skipton in the West Riding of Yorkshire leaving her to raise her two sons aged 10 and 814. 

On the night of the 1901 census Eleanor, then aged 42, was living at 10 Moorfield Grove in Heaton Norris, Lancashire.  Eleanor was not working but her sons continued their father's pen based profession, with her eldest son James, then aged 18 working as clerk to a lecturer and Harry, aged 16 working as a clerk in a newspaper office15.

On the night of the 1911 census Eleanor, then aged 52, was living at Hulme in Manchester (and once I've deciphered the handwriting I will give the full address).  Living with her were her two sons.  The younger son, Harry, then aged 26, had continued his profession from earlier census and had reached the level of manager of a newspaper branch office.  Her eldest son James, then aged 28, had changed profession to become a house decorator.  Also living in the house was a boarder, 64 year old retired architect John Hollingworth (listed as married but the wife was not on the census entry) 16.

On the 4th of February 1913 Eleanor died at 9 Dudley Street, Stretford in Lancashire aged 54.  Her cause of death was given as Valvular disease of the heart and hepatitis.  Her death certificate states the informant, present at death, was her sister F. M. Thomas - who I assume I had seen under the name Mary on the census17.  Later in the same year Eleanor's son Harry married Laura Florence Browne in Lambeth in London18.


1. See Scotland Christening records (full reference details TBC).
2. See Scotland Christening records (full reference details TBC).
3. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
4. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
5. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
6. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
7. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
8. See 1881 census (full reference details TBC).
9. See 1881 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 1891 census (full reference details TBC).
14. See James Sr.'s death register registered in the last quarter of 1892.
15. See 1901 census (full reference details TBC).
16. See 1911 census (full reference details TBC).
17. See Eleanor's death certificate registered in the first quarter of 1913.
10. See Harry's marriage certificate to Laura registered in the last quarter of 1913

Comments

  1. StaggieHaggis17 January 2020 at 06:46

    Eleanors father was a Master Jeweller and there should be Guild Records still in the archives.

    ReplyDelete

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