Person:Mary Harry (4)

Watchers
m. 17 Nov 1850
  1. Mary Ann Harry1851 - 1852
  2. Mary Ann Harry1853 - 1895
  3. Amelia Jane Harry1855 - 1909
  4. Louisa Kate Harry1857 - 1933
  5. William Richard Harry1859 - 1916
  6. Sarah Eleanor Harry1861 - 1862
  7. John Edwin Harry1863 - 1935
  8. Ellen Sarah Harry1866 - 1944
  9. Lilian Harry1868 - 1869
  10. Elizabeth Mary Harry1870 - 1878
Facts and Events
Name Mary Ann Harry
Gender Female
Birth[1] 1853 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Census[2] 7 Apr 1861 Plymouth, Devon, England12 Claremont Street
Census[3] 2 Apr 1871 Plymouth, Devon, England25 Claremont Street
Marriage 1873 Plymouth, Devon, Englandto John Burridge Allen
Census[4] 3 Apr 1881 Plymouth, Devon, England10 John Street
Census[5] 5 Apr 1891 Devonport, Devon, England15 Wake Street
Death[6] 1895 Plymouth, Devon, England

Mary Ann Allen was born in 1853 at Portsmouth in Hampshire, daughter of Jane Harry, formerly Drake, and her husband William Richard Harry, a shipwright. Mary was the couple's second child, but her older sister (who had also been called Mary Ann) had died as a baby. The family at this time was moving around several south coast ports with shipyards: Portsmouth, Dartmouth and Plymouth, as well as Mary's mother's native parish of Bere Ferrers in Devon. By the late 1850s they had settled at Plymouth.

The 1861 census finds Mary living with her parents and siblings at 12 Claremont Street in Plymouth. Ten years later they were in the same street, and Mary was working as a domestic servant. Her father at this time was unemployed, so Mary and her sister Louisa were the only employed people in the household.

In 1872 Mary had a daughter named Lilian. The following year she married a sailor named John Burridge Allen. They appear to have had ten children together; and when Mary's daughter Lilian was baptised in 1879 John was named as her father too. Of the ten children, two died as babies and another two died as young children of 7 and 8 years old.

The 1881 census finds Mary and the three children living at 10 John Street in Plymouth. Mary's husband John was away from home, serving on board the HMS Miranda, which was at Sydney in Australia on census night. John appears to have left the navy around 1882; all the children baptised after 1882 describe him as a naval pensioner.

Mary's father died in 1884 in Plymouth, after which Mary and her family went to live with her widowed mother at 3 Claremont Place for a time, with that being given as the family's address on the baptisms of their children in 1885 and 1886.

By 1888 the family had left Plymouth and moved to neighbouring Devonport, where they lived at 15 Wake Street. They were still there at the time of the 1891 census. In 1892, John was charged with aggravated assault on Mary Ann. He was convicted and sent to jail for one month.

Back in Plymouth, Mary's mother died in 1894.

Mary died in 1895, aged 42. John remarried later that year, but died himself three years later in 1898. By 1901 the younger children were scattered; one with John's widow and two in orphanages.

References
  1. Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

    b. Mary Ann HARRY, June Quarter 1853, Portsea Island Registration District, Volume 2b, page 336, mother's maiden name Drake

  2. England. 1861 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 RG9; Piece 1440; Folio 125; Page 16, 7 Apr 1861.

    Address: 12 Claremont St, Plymouth, Devon
    William Harry, head, married, male, 34 [1826/7], Shipwright, b. Saltash, Cornwall
    Jane Harry, wife, married, female, 39 [1821/2], b. Beerferris, Devon
    Maryann Harry, daughter, female, 8 [1852/3], Scholar, b. Dartmouth, Devon
    Amelia Jane Harry, daughter, female, 6 [1854/5], Scholar, b. Beerferris, Devon
    Louisa Kate Harry, daughter, female, 3 [1857/8], Scholar, b. Dartmouth, Devon
    W[illia]m R[ichar]d Harry, son, male, 1 [1859/60], b. Plymouth, Devon

  3. 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 2118; Folio 109; Page 5, 2 Apr 1871.

    Address: 25 Claremont Street, Plymouth (St Andrew), Devon
    William R. Harry, head, married, male, 44 [1826/7], Shipwright (out of employ), b. Saltash, Cornwall
    Jane Harry, wife, married, female, 37 [1823/4], b. Parish of Beer Ferris, Devon
    Mary A. Harry, daughter, unmarried, female, 17 [1853/4], Domestic Serv[an]t, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire
    Louisa K. Harry, daughter, female, 13 [1857/8], Domestic Serv[an]t, b. Dartmouth, Devon
    William R. Harry, son, male, 11 [1859/60], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    John E. Harry, son, male, 7 [1863/4], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    Ellen S. Harry, daughter, female, 4 [1864/5], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    Elisabeth M. Harry, daughter, female, 1 [1869/70], b. Plymouth, Devon

  4. 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 2194; Folio 7; Page 19, 3 Apr 1881.

    Address: 10 John Street, Plymouth (Charles), Devon
    Mary A. Allen, wife, married, female, 27 [1853/4], Sailor's Wife, b. Portsmouth, Hampshire
    Lilian Allen, daughter, female, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    John B. Allen, son, male, 6 [1874/5], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    Amelia M. Allen, daughter, female, 2 [1878/9], b. Plymouth, Devon

  5. 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 1744; Folio 141; Page 45, 5 Apr 1891.

    Address: 15 Wake Street, Devonport, Stoke Damerel, Devon
    2 rooms occupied
    J.B. Allen, head, married, male, 48 [1842/3], Seaman, employed, b. Plymouth, Devon
    M.A. Allen, wife, married, female, 38 [1852/3], b. Portsmouth, Hampshire
    A.M. Allen, daughter, female, 12 [1878/9], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    A.S. Allen, son, male, 6 [1884/5], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    G.B. Allen, son, male, 4 [1886/7], Scholar, b. Plymouth, Devon
    W.H. Allen, son, male, 2 [1888/9], b. Devonport, Devon
    W.M. Allen, daughter, female, 1 [1889/90], b. Devonport, Devon

  6. Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

    d. Mary Ann ALLEN, December Quarter 1895, Plymouth Registration District, Volume 5b, page 168, aged 42 [1852/3]