Person:Stephen Sweeney (2)

Childhood

Stephen Sweeney was born on 22nd December 1853 in the parish of Sorbie, Wigtownshire. He was the fifth of nine children of an agricultural labourer named Michael Sweeney and his wife Mary Kilcawley. Michael and Mary were originally from County Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. They had married there at a place called Castleconor in 1844 and had had three children baptised at Castleconor in the 1840s, before moving to Scotland sometime between 1849 and 1851. Stephen was the couple's second child to have been born in Scotland. Stephen was baptised when he was one month old at the Catholic Church in the town of Newton Stewart, a few miles north of Sorbie.

Stephen grew up in Sorbie village. The family lived there in small cottages - in 1861 they had two rooms with windows and in 1871 they only had one room with windows. When Stephen was about thirteen the family was struck when two of his siblings died in quick succession - his brother James died aged six, then Stephen's only sister, Catherine, died aged fifteen.

Adulthood

As a young man, Stephen became a joiner and carpenter. When he was 25 he married a girl called Margaret Rice from Whithorn, the neighbouring parish to Sorbie. However, the couple did not marry in Scotland, but over 400 miles away in the London area.

After their marriage, Stephen and Margaret moved to Brixton, to the south of London, where they appear in the 1881 census. Margaret's brother James was boarding with the couple. Stephen and Margaret's first daughter was born in Brixton. Some time between 1881 and 1885 the family moved to Paddington, west London. The couple's other three children were born in Paddington, although their youngest daughter died aged 3. From at least 1885 to 1890, the family rented two unfurnished rooms on the parlour (ground) floor of 34 Hampden Street. The then moved to 2 Alfred Road, where the 1891 census finds them living relatively comfortably in a house of five or more rooms. They stayed there for a couple of years. By 1895, they were back in lodgings, renting two unfurnished first floor rooms at 4 Barnsdale Road.

Around the start of 1895, Stephen contracted phthisis (tuberculosis), which he suffered for nine months before his death on 9th September 1895. He was 41. At the time of Stephen's death, his wife Margaret was 43 and was left with their three surviving children aged between 6 and 13 to support.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Roman Catholic Church. Newton Stewart Catholic Parish Registers. (Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Catholic Archives), Primary quality.

   Names of Baptized	Names of Parents	Born	Baptized	Names of Sponsors	Priest
   Stephen	law[ful son of] Michael Sweeney and Mary An McAuly	Dec 22 1853	A.D. 1854 Jan 22	William Kelly and Mary McLean	J.J. Buckley

2. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1861 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh), 897/00 005/00 012, 7 Apr 1861, Primary quality.

   Address		Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Rooms with windows		2
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   Michael Swenie	head	married	male	37	1823/4	Ag Lab	Sligo, Ireland
   Mary Swenie	wife	married	female	39	1821/2		Sligo, Ireland
   Patrick Swenie	son		male	14	1846/7		Sligo, Ireland
   Michael Swenie	son		male	12	1848/9		Sligo, Ireland
   Cathrine Swenie	daughter		female	8	1852/3		Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Stephen Swenie	son		male	6	1854/5		Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Peter Swenie	son		male	4	1856/7		Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   James Swenie	son		male	1	1859/60		Sorbie, Wigtownshire

3. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh), 897/00 006/00 010, 2 Apr 1871, Primary quality.

   Address		Garlieston Road, Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Rooms with windows		1
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   Michael Sweeney	head	married	male	46	1824/5	Ag Lab	Ireland
   Mary Sweeney	wife	married	female	48	1822/3	Labourer's wife	Ireland
   Stephen Sweeney	son	unmarried	male	17	1853/4	Carpenter	Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Peter Sweeney	son		male	13	1857/8	Ag lab	Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Luke Sweeney	son		male	7	1863/4	Scholar	Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Andrew Sweeney	son		male	5	1865/6		Sorbie, Wigtownshire

4. ↑ General Register Office. Public Record Office (PRO) RG 11 General Register Office: 1881 Census Schedules. (The National Archives), RG11/622/98/65, 3 Apr 1881, Primary quality.

   Address	122 Mayall Road, Brixton, Lambeth, Surrey
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Birthplace
   Stephen Sweeney	head	married	male	27	1853/4	Joiner	Scotland
   Margaret Sweeney	wife	married	female	28	1852/3	Nil	Scotland
   James Rice	boarder	unmarried	male	23	1857/8	Joiner	Scotland

5. ↑ General Register Office. The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) RG 12 General Register Office: 1891 Census Schedules, RG12/1/48/20, 5 Apr 1891, Primary quality.

   Address		2 Alfred Road, Paddington, London
   Rooms occupied		5 or more
   Name	Relation to head	Marital status	Sex	Age	Implied birthdate	Occupation	Status	Birthplace
   Stephen Sweeney	head	married	male	36	1854/5	Joiner	employed	Scotland
   Margaret Sweeney	wife	married	female	38	1852/3			Scotland
   Mary J. Sweeney	daughter		female	8	1882/3			Brixton, London
   Margaret Sweeney	daughter		female	3	1887/8			Paddington, London
   Stephen Sweeney	son		male	1	1889/90			Paddington, London

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

   REGISTRATION DISTRICT PADDINGTON
   1895 DEATH in the Sub-District of Saint Mary Paddington in the County of London
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   190	Ninth September 1895 4 Burnsdale Road	Stephen Sweeney	Male	40 years	Carpenter (Journeyman)	Phthisis 9 months Exhaustion Certified by G. Gardiner M.D.	Margaret Sweeney Widow of deceased present at the Death, 4 Burnsdale Road	Tenth September 1895	Wm Kirk, Registrar

   
7.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1885
   South Division, No. 1 Polling District
   HAMPDEN STREET
   Name: 4739 Sweeney, Stephen
   Rooms occupied: Parlour floor, unfurnished
   House and street: 34 Hampden-street
   Rent: 6s. a week
   Landlord: Mrs. Checksfield, 34 Hampden-street
8.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1887
   South Division, No. 1 Polling District
   HAMPDEN STREET
   Name: 4873 Sweeney, Stephen
   Rooms occupied: Parlour floor, unfurnished
   House and street: 34 Hampden street
   Rent: 6s. a week
   Landlord: Wm. Cheeksfield, 34 Hampden street
9.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1889
   South Division, No. 1 Polling District
   HAMPDEN STREET
   Name: 4701 Sweeney, Stephen
   Rooms occupied: 2 rooms ground floor, unfurnished
   House and street: 34 Hampden street
   Rent: 6s. per week
   Landlord: Mr. Checksfield, same address
10.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1890
    South Division, No. 1 Polling District
    HAMPDEN STREET
    Name: 4866 Sweeney, Stephen
    Rooms occupied: 2 rooms ground floor, unfurnished
    House and street: 34 Hampden street
    Rent: 6s weekly
    Landlord: Mr. Checksfield, same address
11.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1893
    South Division, No. 1 Polling District
    ALFRED ROAD
    Name: 65 Sweeney, Stephen
    Abode: 2 Alfred road
    Nature of Qualification: dwelling house
    Name and Situation of Qualifying Property: 2 Alfred road
    
    (not at 2 Alfred Road or 4 Barnsdale Road in 1894 electoral register)
12.   Paddington Electoral Register, 1895
    North Division, No. 5 Polling District, Harrow Road Ward
    BARNSDALE ROAD
    Name: 2389 Sweeney, Stephen
    Rooms occupied: Two rooms first floor, unfurnished
    House and street: 4 Barnsdale-road
    Landlord: Mr. Hollis, same address