Person:Joseph Ralston (4)

Childhood

Joseph Alexander Ralston was born on 28th September 1854 at 3 St Anne Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire. His father, William Ralston, was a stone mason who had died in New York the month before Joseph was born. Joseph's mother Ellen Ralston (formerly Coghlan) had clearly been left at home in England, pregnant and with the couple's five other children whilst William went to America.

When Joseph was just three year old, his mother Ellen also died, leaving Joseph and his five siblings orphans. Their maternal grandmother, an elderly midwife also named Ellen Coghlan, was still alive and she looked after the children for some of the time, although also had to resort to placing some of the children in the Liverpool Orphan Asylum at times. Whether or not Joseph spent any time in the orphanage is unknown, as the boys' register for the period is lost, but we do know that two of his three sisters spent time in the orphanage.

In 1869, Joseph's grandmother Ellen died. Joseph's next sighting is in 1871 as a sixteen year old assistant to a grocer at Church in Lancashire, quite some distance from his native Birkenhead. He appears never to have returned to Birkenhead to live.

Manchester

Joseph clearly took to the grocery business, for by 1881 he was running his own grocery in the Ardwick area of Manchester. His sister Christiana was living with him at that time, showing that Joseph did not completely lose touch with his siblings. Later in 1881, Joseph married Eliza Ann Hicks. She was a schoolmistress originally from Hadley in Shropshire, although she had spent much of her childhood in Sheffield before moving to Manchester.

Joseph and Eliza had one son then three daughters. On the last day of 1899, Eliza died, aged just 41. She and Joseph had been married for eighteen years and their four children ranged in age from 17 to just 6 when Eliza died.

Joseph raised the four children on his own following Eliza's death. The 1901 census finds the family living at 202 Moss Lane East in the Moss Side area of Manchester, which was both their home and their grocery business. Joseph's children all appear to have married in the Manchester area between 1903 and 1918, and by 1921 he had six grandchildren, all of whom were born in the Manchester area. However, his daughter Selina died in 1920, aged just 36.

Westmorland

In 1922, aged about 67 and having been a widower for 22 years, Joseph remarried. His second wife, Martha Beatrice Roscoe Saul, was 25 years his junior, being 42 when they married. The couple did not marry in Manchester, but in Westmorland. Martha was from the small seaside village of Arnside in Westmorland, and the couple appear to have settled in the neighbouring parish of Beetham, where they lived at a house called Mayfield in the hamlet of Sandside.^[10] Joseph and Martha were married for about 17 years, although do not appear to have had any children. Back in Manchester, Joseph's son Frederick appears to have carried on the grocery business at 202 Moss Lane East, but died in 1924 aged only 41.

Joseph died on his 85th birthday. He left a will, which was proved by his wife Martha. His estate was valued at nearly £1900 - a fairly substantial amount for the time. Martha outlived him by over 21 years and died in 1961.

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

   1854 BIRTH in the Sub-district of Birkenhead in the County of Chester
   No.111
   When and where born: Twentyeighth September 1854, 3 St. Anne St, Birkenhead
   Name: Joseph Alexander
   Sex: Boy
   Father: William Ralston, Mason
   Mother: Ellen Ralston, formerly Coghlan
   Informant: X the mark of Ellen Ralston, Mother, 3 St. Anne Street, Birkenhead
   Registered: Thirtyfirst October 1854

   
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 2642; Folio 73; Page 64, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 5 St Ann Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Ellen Coglan, widow, married [sic], female, 84 [1776/7], Midwife, b. Ireland
   Catherine Ralston, daughter, unmarried, female, 16 [1844/5], Midwife daughter, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   William Ralston, son, unmarried, male, 14 [1846/7], Midwife son, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Ellen Ralston, daughter, unmarried, female, 12 [1848/9], Midwife daughter, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Ralston, son, unmarried, male, 10 [1850/1], Midwife son, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Constance Ralston, daughter, unmarried, female, 8 [1852/3], Midwife daughter, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Joseph Ralston, son, unmarried, male, 6 [1854/5], Midwife son, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Michael Mooran, lodger, single, male, 24 [1836/7], Labourer, b. Ireland
   Philip McMalan, lodger, single, male, 28 [1832/3], Labourer, b. Ireland

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 4184;Folio 65; Page 15, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 46 Henry Street, Church, Lancashire
   William Whittaker, head, married, male, 43 [1827/8], Grocer (master employing 1 man), b. Great Harwood, Lancashire
   Jane Whittaker, wife, married, female, 39 [1831/2], Grocers wife, b. Church, Lancashire
   Thomas Whittaker, son, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Grocers son, b. Padiham, Lancashire
   Mary M. Whittaker, daughter, female, 9 [1861/2], Scholar, b. Church, Lancashire
   Joseph A. Ralston, servant, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Grocers assistant, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Charlotte Toplis, servant, unmarried, female, 17 [1853/4], General Domestic Servant, b. Winster, Derbyshire

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 3896; Folio 63; Page 3, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 385 Hyde Road, Ardwick, Manchester, Lancashire
   Joseph A. Ralston, head, unmarried, male, 26 [1854/5], Grocer (Managing Partner employing 1 man 1 boy), b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Christina Ralston, sister, unmarried, female, 28 [1852/3], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Peter Rowlinson, assistant, unmarried, male, 17 [1863/4], Grocer's Assistant, b. Thelwall, Cheshire
   John Woollam, assistant, unmarried, male, 16 [1864/5], Grocer's Assistant, b. Wem, Shropshire

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 3184; Folio 146; Page 53, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 28 Egerton Terrace, Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester, Lancashire
   5 or more rooms occupied
   Joseph A. Ralston, head, married, male, 36 [1854/5], Grocer, employer, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Eliza A. Ralston, wife, married, female, 30 [1860/1], b. Hadley, Shropshire
   Fred W. Ralston, son, single, male, 8 [1882/3], Scholar, b. Manchester, Lancashire
   Selina C. Ralston, daughter, single, female, 7 [1883/4], b. Manchester, Lancashire
   Kate McNulty, servant, single, female, 16 [1874/5], Gen serv dom, b. Ireland
   Ellen L. Ralston, daughter, single, female, 4 [1886/7], b. Manchester, Lancashire

6. ↑ 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 3710; Folio 119; Page 2, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 202 Moss Lane East, Moss Side, Manchester, Lancashire
   5 or more rooms occupied
   Joseph Alexander Ralston, head, widower, male, 46 [1854/5], Grocer, employer, working at home, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Frederick W. Ralston, son, single, male, 18 [1882/3], Grocer, worker, working at home, b. Manchester, Lancashire
   Selina C. Ralston, daughter, single, female, 17 [1883/4], working at home, b. Manchester, Lancashire
   Ellen L. Ralston, daughter, single, female, 14 [1886/7], working at home, b. Manchester, Lancashire
   Dorothy Ralston, daughter, single, female, 7 [1893/4], b. Manchester, Lancashire

7. ↑ England. 1911 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 RG14; Piece 23920; Schedule 192, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 202 Moss Lane East, South Manchester, Manchester, Lancashire
   6 rooms occupied
   J. Alexander Ralston, head, male, 56 [1854/5], widower, 4 children, 4 still living, Grocer, employer, working at home, b. Birkenhead
   Lina Ralston, daughter, female, 27 [1883/4], single, Housekeeper, b. Manchester
   Ellen Ralston, daughter, female, 24 [1886/7], single, Milliner, worker, b. Manchester
   Dorothy Ralston, daughter, female, 17 [1893/4], Student, Teacher M/C Education Com[mitt]ee, b. Manchester

   Although he gave his name here as J. Alexander Ralston in the schedule, he signed the bottom of the form Joseph Alexander Ralston.

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

   d. Joseph A. RALSTON, September Quarter 1939, Westmorland South Registration District, Vol. 10b, page 952, aged 84 [1854/5]

9. ↑ England. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1858 onwards. (Ancestry.com).

   1939
   RALSTON Joseph Alexander of Mayfield Sandside near Milnthorpe Westmorland died 28 September 1939 Probate Manchester 6 December to Martha Beatrice Roscoe Ralston widow.
   Effects £1896 13s. 9d.

10. ↑ The house is still there, with the modern address being Mayfield, Carr Bank Road, Carr Bank, Milnthorpe, LA7 7LD