Person:Dennis Kelly (4)

County Kildare

Dennis Kelly was baptised in 1835 at Athy in County Kildare, the fourth of seven children of a labourer named Dennis Kelly and his wife Bridget (Biddy) Murphy. The family lived in the townland (hamlet) of Cloney, about five miles north of Athy town, where they rented seven acres of land on the edge of the Monavullagh Bog.

Birkenhead

Dennis appears to have moved to Birkenhead, Cheshire, in about 1861, following his brother Peter who had already moved there prior to 1859. Dennis does not appear to be in England in the 1861 census (taken in April), but was married in Birkenhead in March 1862. At the time of his marriage he was 26, whilst his wife Catherine was just fifteen, although claimed to be eighteen on their marriage certificate. Given that Catherine was the eldest of six orphans being looked after by their increasingly elderly grandmother it was in the family's interests for her to marry young.

Initially, Dennis and Catherine lived with her grandmother at 5 St Anne Street, where their eldest child, William (named after Catherine's late father) was born in 1863. They then moved across the River Mersey to Liverpool for a short time, living at 89 Mann Street in the Toxteth area, where their second child, Francis, was born in 1865. However, they did not stay long in Liverpool and by March 1866 had returned to Birkenhead, when their son Francis sadly died, aged about eleven months.

By 1867 they were at 30 St Anne Street for Bridget's birth, then settled at 195 Market Street for a few years between at least 1869 and 1878 (which is probably the same house as the 195 Eccleston Terrace quoted in their 1871 census return). They then moved a very short distance around the corner to 22 Eldon Street where they were living in 1881, but by 1884 had returned to Market Street, living at No.197 - next door to their old house. They stayed at 197 Market Street until after 1888, before moving onto 8 Eldon Place for the 1891 census, which backed on to their former homes in Market Street. All the addresses in Birkenhead where the family lived were within a couple of blocks of each other to the west of the town centre, and were all just a couple of hundred yards south of Dennis's brother Peter, who lived variously at Orderly Residence, Brook Street and Queensbury Street.

By 1901 the family had moved away from this area to the west of the town centre, living instead at 13 George Street, to the north of the town centre and close to the docks. Dennis worked as a ships' boiler maker in Birkenhead's ship-building industry. Most of his sons also went on to work in industries associated with the docks. As well as having eleven children of their own (ten of whom lived to adulthood), Dennis and Catherine also raised their daughter Bridget's daughter, Mary Ellen. By the time Dennis's youngest son, Peter, was born, Dennis was 52 years old.

Dennis died in 1904, aged 69, of cancer of the tongue. Catherine went to live with her daughter Christina at 26 Sandford Street, just around the corner from 13 George Street where Dennis had died. She outlived Dennis by 29 years.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Athy, Kildare, Ireland. Catholic Parish Registers.

   1835 / August / 23
   Dennis of Dennis Kelly & Bridget Murphy
   SS Dennis Farrell & Essy Lawlor

   This baptism has been identified as the correct one on the basis that in the 1891 English census Dennis gave his place of birth as Kildare, his marriage certificate gave his father's name as being Dennis Kelly, labourer, one of the godparents for Dennis's daughter Bridget was a Martin Kelly and there was a Peter Kelly who also moved to Birkenhead from Ireland and in the censuses gave his place of birth more accurately as Athy, Kildare, and his 1859 marriage certificate confirm that he was also son of Dennis Kelly, labourer. The sequence of baptisms to Dennis Kelly and Bridget Murphy are in the right timeframe, in the right part of County Kildare, and indicate that Dennis, Peter and Martin Kelly were siblings (along with four others). Further, whilst there is evidence that Martin and youngest brother Francis both married in County Kildare, there is no evidence of either Peter or Dennis having married in that area, thus supporting the notion that they had both moved away.

2. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 3745; Folio 174; Page 4, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 195 Eccleston Terrace, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kenny, head, unmarried, male, 30 [1840/1], Dock Labourer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, sister, unmarried, female, 25 [1845/6], Brothers Housekeeper, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Henry Kenny, brother, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Shop boy (out of employment), b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelly, boarder, married, male, 31 [1839/40], Rivetters Labourer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kelly, boarder, married, female, 25 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   William Kelly, boarder, male, 8 [1862/3], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kelly, boarder, male, 1 [1869/70], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

   Whilst the address here is given as 195 Eccleston Terrace, no such street has been found on contemporary maps (viewed at www.old-maps.co.uk). The enumerator's description of the district in the 1871 census is: "All the part of the Borough of Birkenhead bounded by Argyle St on the East, Park Street on the West, Price Street on the North, and Conway Street on the South." Within this area there is no Eccleston Terrace labelled on the maps. However, we know that in 1869 Dennis and Catherine were living at 195 Market Street and again later in 1871 were at 195 Market Street (from the births of their children John Joseph and Christina). 195 Market Street certainly was within the area described by the enumerator's description and the co-incidence of the house number is sufficient to be confident that 195 Eccleston Terrace was the same house as 195 Market Street - and therefore that the terrace of houses on the south side of Market Street between Park Street and Eldon Street was known as Eccleston Terrace.

3. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 3577; Folio 6; Page 6, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 22 Eldon Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelley, head, married, male, 40 [1840/1], General Laborer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kelley, wife, married, female, 36 [1844/5], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   William Kelley, son, unmarried, male, 18 [1862/3], General Laborer, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   [page RG11/3577/7/7]
   Bridget Kelley, daughter, unmarried, female, 14 [1866/7], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Christina Kelley, daughter, female, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John J. Kelley, son, male, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Edward Kelly, son, male, 7 [1873/4], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelly, son, male, 4 [1876/7], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Alexander Kelly, son, male, 2 [1878/9], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kenny, boarder, unmarried, male, 40 [1840/1], General Laborer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, sister, unmarried, female, 35 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Patrick Lynch, boarder, married, male, 23 [1857/8], General Laborer, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Mary A. Lynch, wife, married, female, 23 [1857/8], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

4. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 2880; Folio 83; Page 55, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 8 Eldon Place, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   4 rooms occupied
   John Kelly, head, married, male, 49 [1841/2], Dock Laborer, employed, b. Kildare, Ireland
   Catherine Kelly, wife, married, female, 45 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Edward Kelly, son, single, male, 17 [1873/4], Dock Laborer, employed, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelly, son, male, 15 [1875/6], Dock Laborer, employed, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Alexander Kelly, son, male, 13 [1877/8], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Frank Kelly, son, male, 10 [1880/1], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Mary E. Kelly, daughter, 4 [1886/7], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Peter Kelly, son, male, 3 [1887/8], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Patrick A. Kelly, son, male, 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   ~ [another household at same address]
   2 rooms occupied
   John Kenny, head, single, male, 49 [1841/2], General Laborer, employed, b. Newry, Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, sister, single, female, 40 [1850/1], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

   Although the head of the household here is listed as John rather than Dennis, it is obviously the same household - with the same wife, children and even lodgers as in 1881 and 1901. We therefore conclude that 'John' is actually Dennis.

5. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 3388; Folio 165; Page 21, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 13 George Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   3 rooms occupied
   Dennis Kelly, head, married, male, 59 [1841/2], Ships Boiler Maker, worker, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kelly, wife, married, female, 55 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   [page RG13/3388/165/22]
   Frank Kelly, son, single, male, 19 [1881/2], General Labourer, worker, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Albert Kelly, son, single, male, 17 [1883/4], Apprentice Baker, worker, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Peter Kelly, son, single, male, 13 [1887/8], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Mary E. Kelly, granddaughter, female, 14 [1886/7], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kenny, visitor, single, male, 60 [1840/1], Ragman, own account, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, servant, single, female, 46 [1854/5], General servant, worker, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

6. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   1904 DEATH in the Sub-district of Birkenhead in the County of Birkenhead
   No.366
   When and where died: 21 Nov 1904, 13 George Street UD
   Name: Dennis Kelly
   Sex: Male
   Age: 59 years
   Occuption: Boilermaker's Holder up
   Cause of death: Cancer of Tongue, Certified by H.R. Preece L.R.C.P.
   Informant: C. Kelly, widow of deceased, present at death, 13 George Street
   Registered: Twenty first November 1904