Person:Robert Kelly (17)

Robert Kelly was born in about 1848. He claimed on different censuses to have either been born in Manchester in England or in Ireland. According to his marriage certificate his parents were a tailor named John Kelly and his wife Maria Willis, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Robert's first traced sighting is his marriage, on 21st September 1870 at St Kevin Harrington Street Catholic Church in Dublin, to Maria Reid, who was then nineteen. At the time of his marriage, Robert was living with his parents at 67 Upper Dominick Street, to the north of Dublin city centre, whereas Maria was living with her parents at 8 Lower Kevin Street, to the south of the city centre.

Robert and Maria had a son, John, born in Dublin the year after they married, although he may well have died young. By 1881, Robert and Maria had left Ireland and were living in Liverpool in England. Whilst in Liverpool, they had three daughters.

In 1882, Robert emigrated to America. Maria and the three girls followed him over in 1883. The couple would go on to have at least two more daughters in New York, where the settled in Manhattan in New York City.

Robert seems to have worked in a variety of occupations, variously appearing as a reeler, a dock labourer, printer, day labourer and store watchman.

In 1910 Maria returned to Ireland for a year-long visit. Robert stayed in New York, living with their married daughter Lydia and her family. When Maria returned to New York in 1911, she said she was intending to join Lydia, who was quoted as living at 244 Seventh Avenue. After this, neither Robert nor Maria has been traced, but there are possible deaths in New York between 1910/11 and 1920 which could be them - they have not been found in the 1920 American census, although Lydia and her husband have been found.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 General Register Office. Public Record Office (PRO) RG 11 General Register Office: 1881 Census Schedules. (The National Archives), Piece RG 11/3600 Folio 32 Page 62, 3 Apr 1881, Primary quality.

   Address	48 Ascot St, Liverpool, Lancashire
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   Robert Kelly	head	married	male	32	1848/9	Labourer Dock	Manchester, Lancashire
   Maria Kelly	wife	married	female	28	1852/3		Ireland
   Julia Kelly	daughter		female	6	1874/5	Scholar	Liverpool, Lancashire
   Margaret Kelly	daughter		female	3	1877/8		Liverpool, Lancashire
   John Jones	lodger	widower	male	52	1828/9	Labourer Dock	Quebec, Canada

2. ↑ United States. Census Office. 12th census, 1900. New York, 1900 federal census : soundex and population schedules. (Washington, District of Columbia: National Archives and Records Administration, 19--?), New York, New York, 0504 Borough of Manhattan, Election District 16, New York City Ward 20, page 29, 1 Jun 1900, Primary quality.

   Address: 244 East Thirty-fourth
   Rented house
   Robert Kelly, head, white, male, b. Nov 1849, married 30 years, b. Ireland, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, immigrated 1882, naturalized, Printer, 1 month out of work
   Maria Kelly, wife, white, female, b. May 1854, married 30 years, mother of 16 children, 9 children still living, b. Ireland, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, immigrated 1883
   Julia Kelly, daughter, white, female, b. May 1876, single, b. unknown, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland
   Margaret Kelly, daughter, white, female, b. Nov 1879, single, b. England, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, immigrated 1883, Millener, 0 months out of work
   Maria Kelly, daughter, white, female, b. Nov 1881, single, b. England, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, immigrated 1883, Dress-maker, 2 months out of work
   Teresa Kelly, daughter, white, female, b. May 1884, single, b. New York, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, Cash-girl, 0 months out of work
   Ciddick [possibly mistranscribed Liddiar?] Kelly, daughter, female, b. Nov 1888, single, b. New York, father b. Ireland, mother b. Ireland, At school
   plus seven roomers and a servant

3. ↑ New York, United States. New York State Census, 1905. (FamilySearch Record Search), County: New York / Borough: Manhattan / Assembly District 11 / Election District 7 / Image 17, 1 Jun 1905, Primary quality.

   Address	432 Thirty Third Street, Manhattan, New York, New York
   Name	Relation	Color	Sex	Age	Nativity	Years in US	Citizen or alien	Occupation
   Kelly, Robert	Head	W	M	56	Ireland	22	Cit	Day Laborer
   Kelly, Maria	Wife	W	F	51	Ireland	22	Cit	Housework
   Kelly, Margaret	daughter	W	F	24	England	22	Cit	Operator
   Kelly, Theresa	daughter	W	F	21	U.S.		Cit	Operator Belts
   Hilliard, Lidia	daughter	W	F	17	U.S.		Cit	Housework
   Hilliard, Charles	Son in Law	W	M	20	U.S.		Cit	Cable splicer
   Hilliard, Robert L.	Grandson	W	M	1/12	U.S.		Cit	At home

4. ↑ United States. Bureau of the Census. 13th census, 1910. New York, 1910 federal census : population schedules. (Washington, District of Columbia: The National Archives, 19--?), Manhattan Ward 21 / Enumeration District 1248 / Image 1152, 15 Apr 1910, Primary quality.

   Address: 579 Second Avenue, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
   Hillard, Chas, head, male, white, 22, married five years, born France, parents born France, immigrated 1890, naturalized, Chauffeur
   Hillard, Lydia, wife, female, white, 20, married five years, born New York, parents born Ireland
   Hillard, Robert, son, male, white, 4, single, born New York, father born France, mother born New York
   Kelly, Robert, father-in-law, male, white, 61, married 40 years, born Ireland, parents born Ireland, immigrated 1883, naturalized, Watchman - store