The
McGann Family The
McGann family and all their "feeder" families are rooted in Ireland,
and the ancestral line that has been verified in the family tree extends back to
the early 19th century and for 6 generations....
Little is known of the Irish hometowns of these ancestors - indeed only one
specific hometown is known (Tullamore, Co Offaly) and therefore only one family
group (the Grogans) has had its Irish antecedents researched in
detail...... hopefully our ongoing research will give us some more Irish
leads!
The
McGanns (and all other branches) have been manual workers since their emigration
to England - the Grogans were peasant farmers in Ireland. "McGann"
is an Old Irish surname - the Connacht variant form of the original "Mac
Canna", which translates as "the
son of Wolf Cub". The earliest known records show that the original clan
chiefs were the Lords of Clanbrassil in the 10th Century, a place on the
southern shore of Lough Neagh, County Antrim. It appears that they were still
holding this title in 1598, when they apparently supported the uprising led by
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. O'Neill was successful for nearly nine years,
but he was finally defeated at Kinsale in 1602. Most of his supporters were
dispossessed and driven from their homelands and this would seem to include
the branch of the McCanns, who
became the McGanns. The Coat of Arms is a blue field, a silver chevron between
three silver boars courant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is
shown to be that of Amhlaibh MacCanna, which was dated circa 1155, Lord of
Clanbrassil, as recorded in the "Annals of
the Four Masters", during the reign of Turlough Mor O'Conor, High King of
Ireland, 1119 - 1156. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced
personal taxation and, over the years, surnames in every country have
continued to "develop" often leading to unusual variants of the
original spelling. The
known history of our branch of the family is as follows: Matthew
& Catherine McGann (nee Dyer) Matthew
McGann and Catherine Dyer married at St Joseph’s in Leigh on 10th
October 1891 – after the birth of 3 of their children! They had 4 children:
Michael, Jane, Thomas and Matthew - Michael McGann was born on 2nd
October 1886 in Wigan (the family living at Worthington Row, Millgate); Jane was
born in Hindley on 2nd October 1888; Thomas was born in Leigh on 26th
January 1891; and Matthew was born in Widnes on 26th June 1894 –
Matthew died on 7th August 1894, the cause of death being
“convulsions”. Matthew
snr was a Labourer, and it may be assumed that he moved around this fairly close
geographic area following the work that was available. Little is known of
Matthew’s antecedents – he was born in 1856 in Ireland and his father was
identified as Michael McGann, a farmer, on his Marriage Certificate. Michael is
not identified as deceased on the Certificate, so he might have been
alive at that time! On the Marriage Certificate Matthew’s occupation was given
as a Road Labourer and he made his Mark whilst Catherine signed the Register. Catherine
Dyer was born on 31st May 1863 in Stalybridge and was baptised in a
private ceremony on the same day, suggesting that she may have had a
life-threatening illness that she obviously overcame. The baptism is registered
at St Peter’s Stalybridge. Catherine was the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Dyer
(nee Logan) both of whom were born in Ireland in 1823 and 1829 respectively,
although the Dyer family were living in Stalybridge from at least 1848 as Thomas
& Ellen were married at St Peter’s Stalybridge on 25th July
1848. Whilst
Catherine may be traced through successive Censuses, I can only be certain that
Matthew appears for the first time in the 1891 Census (although he may have been
in the Army Michael
was baptised on 14th October 1886 at St. Mary’s in Wigan – his godparents
were Michael Dyer (Catherine’s brother) and Catherine McGrath (unk). Jane and
Thomas were both baptised at St Joseph’s in Leigh – Jane on 9th
September 1890 (nearly 2 years old) and Thomas on 8th February 1891: Jane’s
godparent was Sarah Anne Morgan (unk), Thomas’s godparent was Mary Ann
McDermott (unk). Matthew was baptised at St Patrick’s Widnes, his godparents
were John Butler and Eliza Dodd (unk). The
1891 Census shows the McGann family (Matthew, Catherine and children) living at
5 George St, Pennington, Leigh, along with Catherine’s widowed mother Ellen
– Matthew was a General Labourer. At
this stage the McGann family seemed to be a “normal” family, but something
catastrophic (I don’t know what!) happened in the mid-1890’s that broke the
family up. In September 1896 Jane McGann had been placed in the care of the
“Wigan Workhouse” – the minutes of the Board of Governors meeting showing
that legal proceedings were being taken against “the persons liable for her
maintenance”. On 17th September 1896 Thomas McGann was admitted to
the Swinton Industrial School (a type of combined school and orphanage used at
the time to house children from the Wigan Workhouse) – the admission records
give the reason for his admission as “Deserted by Father and Mother”. Jane
McGann was subsequently admitted to the Swinton Industrial School on 2nd
August 1897 – there is nothing in the records to indicate why Jane was sent to
Swinton nearly a year later than Thomas! There is no record of Michael McGann
being admitted to Swinton, so the assumption must be that (whatever the cause)
the two younger children were left by Matthew and Catherine, but Michael stayed
with one (or both) of them. The fact that the children were in the care of the
Wigan Workhouse suggests that the family had returned to live in Wigan before
the break-up – perhaps the whole family was living in the Wigan Workhouse and
Matthew and Catherine absconded with Michael – we may never know! In June 1898
both Jane and Thomas were transferred from the Swinton Industrial School to the
Kirkdale Industrial School (in Liverpool) – they were both recorded as having
been “Deserted” by their parents. Both Jane and Thomas were still “Pauper
Inmates” at Kirkdale at the time of the 1901 Census. Jane was discharged from
Kirkdale, returning to the Wigan Workhouse, in August 1902. Thomas was
transferred from Kirkdale to the St Vincents Orphanage School in Fulwood,
Preston in June 1903 – I’m still trying to find out what happened to them
next! Michael was never admitted to Kirkdale.
Swinton Industrial
School The
1901 Census shows the McGann family spread fairly far and wide: Jane
and Thomas were in Kirkdale Industrial School; Michael (age 14) was living as a
Boarder at 44 Naylor St South in St Helens – his occupation is as a General
Labourer; Matthew was living as a Boarder at 9 Mount St in St Helens – his
occupation is as a Bricksetters Labourer; Catherine was (I believe) a Pauper
Inmate of the Salford Union Infirmary (at the time the hospital and asylum of
the “Salford Workhouse”) suffering from some form of dementure – I’m not
yet 100% sure that this is the right Catherine (ie Michael’s mother) but the
available evidence points to this being the case (I’m still trying to find
conclusive evidence) – but there is also a Katherine McGann in Wigan!! Matthew
McGann died on 20th August 1904 – he was at the time an inmate of
the Whiston Workhouse, having been admitted there on 10th August
1904. His address at that time was 2 Oxford St, Widnes, and no next-of-kin was
identified. His death certificate identifies him as “a labourer of Widnes”
and his cause of death is a “Stricture of the Urethra” along with a
haemorrhage and blood poisoning: not a pleasant way to go! The
1911 Census shows Michael living as a Boarder at 11 Edward St, St Helens and
Thomas living back in Wigan as a Boarder at 28 Alfred St, Pemberton - his
occupation being "Colliery Labourer below ground". Nothing is known
for certain of
Thomas's life after the 1911 Census - there are no "obvious"
possibilities of marriage or death entries in the Civil Registration indexes. Of
course with the impending catastrophe of WW1 it is probable that Thomas was
involved, and maybe was
killed in action - although surviving Service and Pension Records identify a Thomas McGann who enlisted in the Lancashire
Fusiliers on 5th Sept 1914 - this Thomas McGann was a Collier, and he enlisted
in Wigan. He was medically discharged from the Army in November 1915 due to poor
eyesight - on his discharge papers his parents are listed as "not
known" and his next-of-kin is given as his sister, Jane McGann, whose
address was given as 41 Wallgate, Wigan. Certain details do not fit the facts we
have re Thomas (ie his birthplace is given as Wigan, not Leigh; his date of
birth is incorrect and his religion is given as CofE) but it can easily be
imagined that these are details that Thomas may not have known/chosen to ignore
given his "start in life". The records show that Thomas was 5' 5"
tall, weighed 109lbs (7st 11lb), had a sallow complexion, grey eyes, brown hair
and had a slight physique - almost a midget by today's standards, but able to
earn his living as an underground labourer nonetheless! In his later life, Michael never spoke about the existence of his brother,
although he did talk about his sister. Jane McGann does not appear in the
1911 Census (at least not "obviously!) - neither is there any record of her marriage or her death in the
English Civil Registration indexes. Family folklore suggests that she may have
lived in Scotland later in life, but there is no evidence of this..... she's
just disappeared from the records! Michael
& Mary Ellen McGann (nee Garvey) Michael
McGann and Ellen Garvey married on 20th August 1915 at Sacred Heart
Church in St Helens – the witnesses to the marriage being Thomas Garvey and
Catherine Garvey. Michael’s occupation at the time is given as General
Labourer and his address is given as 12 Phythian St, St Helens, although by that
time he was in the army on active service in France.
Michael enlisted in the South
Lancashire Regiment (1/5th Battalion Territorial Force) on 2nd September 1914 and
transferred to France on 13th February 1915. This is believed to be a wedding
photograph, and Michael’s uniform sleeve clearly has stripes (are there 2 or
3?) - stripes were awarded for years service abroad, albeit he was promoted to Acting Company Sergeant Major on 24th May
1916.
Michael was wounded in action in the
Battle of the Somme in August 1916 at Guillemont and was subsequently awarded
the Military Medal on 27th October 1916: the citation reads “His
Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to award the Military Medal for
bravery in the field… …...
awarded for services rendered on various occasions during the progress of the
Campaign ….”, his rank of Acting Company Sergeant Major was later made
permanent. Michael is pictured (left) during his convalescence - probably spent in
the 4th (Reserve) Battalion SLR - a battalion that was used for training and
convalesence. The details of the remainder of
Michael's War Service are uncertain, but it seems possible that,
following his convalescence his medical condition meant that he continued to
serve in the Training Battalion. The
Regimental Records show that the 4th Training Reserve Battalion were stationed
at Richmond Barracks, Dublin from April 1918
- the Battalion was disbanded in 1919 and personnel absorbed by the 3rd
(Special Reserve) Bn and Michael is recorded as having transferred from the 4th
Bn to the 3rd Bn on 20th March 1919, joining "C" Company (later changed to "B"
Company on 26th April 1919). At this time
the 3rd Battalion was posted to
Dublin being part of the last British Army involvement in Ireland prior to the
establishment of the Irish Free State - stationed at Wellington Barracks.
Michael's discharge papers record his medical category as "B1" (unfit for
General Service but fit for Garrison Service abroad) and details his place of
rejoining in case of emergency as Barrow - the erstwhile home base of the 3rd
Battalion.
The 3rd Battalion was disbanded in
October 1919 with non-regular soldiers being re-assigned to the 1st Battalion -
Michael was demobilized on 16th January 1920 from "HSD 1st Battalion"
SLR.
Following
Michael's demobilization in January 1920 he
joined Ellison’s builders
in St Helens working as General Foreman for the rest of his working life. He
suffered a stroke in 1945 and never recovered his health (pictured here during
this period with his daughter Nellie) and he subsequently died on 20th
January 1950 and is buried in St Helens Cemetery.
Mary
Ellen Garvey was born on 1st September 1891 in St Helens, and was
baptised on 2nd September 1891 at Sacred Heart Church, the 7th of 13
children of John and Esther Garvey (nee Grogan), she was the first of the
children born in England - her godparents were Thomas Maledy and Eliza Grogan
(Eliza being Esther’s sister – the Maledy’s being cousins). She was known
throughout her life as Ellen (or Nellie!) At
the time of the 1911 Census, Ellen was employed as a Servant at the Notre Dame
Convent, Whalley New Rd, Blackburn. Family folklore also has it that, prior
to her marriage, Ellen worked for some time as a housekeeper at a Convent in
Oswaldtwistle. The nuns at this Convent were the Sisters of Mercy – the same
order as the Convent in Tullamore (the home town of Ellen’s mother), and the
records show that the Chaplain to the convent in Oswaldtwistle from 1910 to 1914
was Fr John Geoghan – a Tullamore man, so this may well be the reason why
Ellen was sent to a Convent so far from St Helens.
Ellen
was living at 9 Mount St, St Helens at the time of her marriage to Michael. The
Absent Voters List for 1914 gives 9 Mount Street as the home address of both
Thomas Garvey and Michael McGann – so it may be surmised that the Garvey
family were living at 9 Mount Street at this time (coincidentally the same
address as Matthew McGann in 1901!). Michael
and Ellen had 10 children, born between 1917 and 1936 – the only child
not to survive to adulthood was Matthew b 1934 d 1935. The
family initially lived in Mount Street (at number 9 at the time of the birth of
my mum Jane McGann in 1922!). At some time around 1930 the family moved to 63
Eccleston Street and stayed there until the housing in the street was demolished
in the 1950s. At this point Ellen moved to live in Thatto Heath (at 1 Howard
Street) with 3 of her sons.
Mount St circa
1930
An aerial view of the Eccleston Street
area
The large building on the right hand side of the
street
prior to the 1960's redevelopment
is St Patrick's School (attended by the
McGann children)
Sacred
Heart church is in the top left-hand corner
No
9 is the house next door to St Patrick's (far end!)
with the edge of the Greenbank district behind it
A photograph
of the Girl's Junior Class at St Patrick's School in 1928 at a time when both
Jane and Mary McGann were pupils.
It is believed that Jane is pictured on the extreme right of the picture.
Two views of Eccleston St:
^
The photo on the left shows the house of Kathleen Clark (nee McGann) The
photo on the right shows the block of houses
containing No 63 Eccleston St
Two photographs taken in the back yard of 63
Eccleston St. On the left is Jane McGann nursing a young James,
showing the industrial landscape in the background. On the right is Jane McGann pictured with her
brother-in-law Ernie Clark, showing the rear of the 2-bedroom house in which the
whole family were raised. The window is that of the “men’s bedroom”.
These
photographs were taken at family weddings in the 1940s On the left is my
mum’s wedding and pictures Ellen and Michael and a young James (along with my
paternal granddad (Thomas Parker) in the centre). On the right is
taken at Kathleen McGann’s wedding to Ernie Clark and features the 4 McGann
sisters (Jane, Esther, Mary and Kathleen) flanking Ernie in the front row. Ellen
McGann is next to Kathleen and Michael is on the left of the back row – with
his son Thomas pictured next to Michael.
A
photograph taken at the marriage of Nellie McGann to Bill Peel and picturing the
four McGann brothers (l to r) James, John, Thomas and Michael along with their
mother Ellen.
Pictured on the left is my mum, Jane
McGann, aged 15. On
the right is Ellen McGann pictured for her passport photo for a trip to Lourdes
in the 1950s. Ellen
McGann died on 19th July 1981 and is buried with Michael in St Helens
Cemetery. John
& Esther Garvey (nee Grogan) John
Garvey and Esther Grogan were both born in Ireland, John in 1866 (place unknown)
and Esther in 1859 in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the daughter of Thomas and Catherine
Grogan (nee Delaney) - Esther’s baptismal date being 28th August
1859. John and Esther married at the Church of the Assumption in Tullamore on 12th
June 1884 and moved to England in 1890. John
and Esther had 13 children although only 7 of the 13 survived into adulthood. They
had 6 children in Tullamore prior to emigrating to England (3 of whom survived
into adulthood) – Ellen was the first child born in St Helens (in 1891) but
the next child Catherine (Katie) was born in Tullamore in 1894 – it’s not
known why Esther returned to Tullamore for this birth – their remaining
children were born in St Helens. A family recollection is that Elizabeth
(Lizzie) was one of triplets – the records show that she had a twin sister
(Esther) who was born and died in 1898: it is always possible that a third
sibling was still-born and therefore the birth wasn’t registered. The
Church of the Assumption parish register entries for the Garvey children
baptisms show that the family lived at both Barrack St and Tea Lane in the
1880s. These photographs were taken at a later time, but show the locations
where they lived. Barrack
St, Tullamore Tea
Lane, Tullamore
The 1891 Census shows the Garvey family living at 5 Bold St, St Helens –
John’s occupation given as General Labourer. The 1901 Census shows the Garvey
family living at 30 Bold St, St Helens – with John and his son John both being
described as Chemical Labourers, and with Mary Ellen’s christian name being
given as Helen.
The
photograph on the left is of Thomas
Garvey (who served with the Machine Gun Corps in WW1) and that on the right is
of William Garvey and Catherine Martin (his sister-in-law).
The
area of St Helens where the Garvey family lived was known as Greenbank (the
“Irish Quarter”) and contained the Greenbank Chemical Works – it can be
surmised that this is where John worked. The following descriptions are taken
from a local history website, and give a feeling for what life must have been
like in those days: “The
chemical industry was well established in the 19th Century and the acidic fumes
from the factories making alkalis for the glass industry turned brasses green
and blue, and killed trees and hedgerows…..
One of the Streets said to be so filthy, unpaved and undrained was
Greenbank, which had open cesspools which filled the streets with a horrible
stench, and where many fever cases were reported. The over crowding was
horrendous, the rapid expansion of what had been little more than a hamlet, was
made even worse by the influx of thousands of Irish families fleeing from the
Potato Famine in the 1840's”. It
may be that the latter comment related to a time before the Garvey’s lived
there, but it hardly sounds like an ideal place to live!
A
map of the Greenbank area circa 1850.
Photo of Greenbank circa 1900
Pictured here is Esther Garvey – the photograph taken in the mid-1930’s and
picturing Esther flanked by Lillian Brownbill and “Auntie Katie” – with a
young Michael McGann sneaking in at the side! John
Garvey died in 1907 (age 39) in the St Helens Hospital, the cause of death being
Acute Pnuemonia and Heart Failure – Esther registered the death, making her
mark. Esther remained unable to write throughout her life. Esther Garvey died in
1943 (age 83, not 76 as was recorded on her death registration). Thomas
Grogan and Catherine Delaney married at the Church of the Assumption in
Tullamore on 28th May 1853 and had 5 children baptised at this church
in the period 1855 – 1869. Valuation
records for the mid-19th century show that the Grogan family lived at
Barrack St, Tullamore (parish register entries for the 1880s indicate that the
family was still living in Barrack St at that time). Catherine
Delaney was born in Tullamore in 1830, one of 12 children of Michael and Ellen
Delaney (nee Quinn). Michael and Ellen were married in the Church of the
Assumption in Tullamore on 23rd February 1830 and had 12 children
baptised in the church in the period 1830 – 1853, Catherine’s baptismal date
being 1st March 1830 (note less than a week after her parents
married!). A number of the children must have died at an early age given that
some of the Christian names are repeated (ie 3 x Henry’s, 2 x Michael’s, 2 x
James), but the parish registers do not contain death/burial entries. I
can’t be absolutely certain about Thomas Grogan’s parentage (due to
missing/illegible parish records) but it is highly probable that Thomas’s
parents were Michael and Ann Grogan (nee Hensey) who married at the Church of
the Assumption in Tullamore on 19th February 1822. Michael and Ann
had 10 children baptised at this church in the period 1827 – 1850: I haven’t
yet found the baptismal record for Thomas Grogan (missing baptismal registers)
but there are strong links via godparent and marriage witness names that make it
likely that this is Thomas’s family. Life
for the Grogan and related families cannot have been easy in Tullamore in the
mid-19th Century. The following is an extract
from a contemporary record: “Excursions Through Ireland in 1844 &
1845”, by Asenath Nicholson of New York: On
visiting Tullamore……. "The
next morning, the twin daughters of eleven years accompanied me into a lane to
see the poor. Here I found these lovely girls had long been acquainted, for
they inquired of a poor old man about the growth of a pig, and kindly patted
the well known pets of donkeys, goats, and dogs, calling them all by name,
while the mistress went into the garden to pluck a bouquet for the fine girls,
who, she assured me, were the smartest in the parish. I had always heard the
Irish were celebrated for giving the pig an eminent birth in their cabins, and
was a little disappointed to find that though it was really so, yet there was
some nicety of arrangement in all this; for in two cabins I found a pig in a
corner snugly cribbed, with a lattice-work around him, a bed of clean straw
under him, and a pot of food standing near the door of his house, to which he
might go out and in at option. And in both these huts, though the floors were
nothing but the ground, yet these were well swept; a peat fire was smouldering
on clean hearths, and the delf was tastefully arranged upon the rude shelves.
An old cobbler sat with his lap-stone, and said he could make one and six and
one and ten pence a day, and he took care of the bit of ground at the rere of
his cabin for the rent of it. " My wife, praise be to God, is dead, but I
can get a comfortable bit for my children." An old blind man of seventy-
two, sitting at the door of his cabin, thanked God that he had no right to
complain, though he had seen better days ; for he had " two kind girls,
who, when they had done all in and out of the cabin, got little jobs now and
then, which kept the bread in all their mouths." On looking into the
cabin, nothing could be cleaner. Here, too, the family pig was snoring snugly
in his crib in one corner of the room; and here, in all justice, 1 must say
that these pigs were well disciplined, for when one of them attempted to
thrust his nose into a vessel not belonging to him, he was called a dirty pig,
and commanded to go to his own kettle, which he did as tamely as a child or a
dog would have done.
There
is no certainty that the Grogans and Delaneys lived like this, but it can be
assumed that it is not far off the mark! Thomas
Dyer married Ellen Logan at St Peter’s in Stalybridge on 25th July
1848 and had 7 children – all the baptismal records I have found have been at
St Peter’s Stalybridge. The St Peter’s marriage register identifies Thomas
Dyer’s parents as John and Jane Dyer (nee McDonnough) and Ellen Logan’s
parents as David and Helen Logan (nee Burke) – this is the only information I
have found regarding these earlier generations. The
1861 Census shows the Dyer family living in Stalybridge with 5 children, all of
whom were born in Stalybridge. Thomas Dyer was a Cotton Stripper and Ellen Dyer
was a housekeeper. The
1881 Census shows the Dyer family living in Ashton-under-Lyne, Catherine (age
17) was unmarried and employed as a “Cotton Operative”. Thomas
Dyer died in 1881 (age 57) and Ellen Dyer died in 1894 (age 64) – both these
deaths were registered in Ashton under Lyne (the Registration District for
Stalybridge). Ellen Dyer was buried at St Peter’s, Stalybridge – the burial
register for St Peter’s for 1881 is missing and therefore it is not known
whether Thomas and Ellen are buried together.
Ancestors
of Esther Grogan
Another cabin attracted us by the tidy white aprons upon two little girls who
were standing at the door, and their nicely attired mother, with clean cap and
handkerchief, who welcomed me heartily to Ireland. On my commending her for
her cleanliness, she said, “Plase God, poor folks should be a little tidy
who have nothing else to set 'em off. Would ye walk into the garden ? May be
ye'd like a rose or two." We willingly complied, and found an acre of
kitchen garden well cultivated, with a few flowers interspersed, which they
rented for nine pounds, and sold the avails for the support of the family. She
plucked her fairest roses and ripest gooseberries, and bade me God speed, long
life, and a safe return to my own country.
I returned from this lane much gratified by the cleanliness, simplicity, and
comfort of this humble people; for I had ever associated a mud wall, a
thatched roof, and a pig as an inmate, with all that was wretched in the
extreme; and I had, so far as this lane could speak, abundant evidence that a
very little will make the Irish content, and even happy."
Ancestors
of Catherine Dyer