Person:Mary Prosser (6)

Mary Ann Lloyd was baptised on 17th July 1824 at Llanbedr Painscastle in Radnorshire, daughter of Ann Lloyd. In 1826, when Mary Ann was less than two years old her mother married a shopkeeper called William Prosser at Llanbedr Painscastle. Mary Ann adopted her step-father's surname. It is entirely possible that William Prosser was also her biological father. Mary had a number of younger siblings born to Ann and William. She had two sisters baptised at Llanbedr Painscastle: Catherine in 1826 and Harriet in 1828. Both their baptisms give the family's abode as Red Lion. The family the left Radnorshire, moving to South Wales. Mary had younger siblings who were born at Pontypool and Nantyglo in Monmouthshire in the early 1830s, before the family moved to Dowlais in the parish of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, in the mid 1830s. The family has not been found in the 1841 census, but the returns for Merthyr Tydfil parish for 1841 are known to be lost.

Mary's next sighting is on 31st August 1846, aged 22, when she married a draper called William Timothy at Shoreditch, in the inner eastern suburbs of London, about 160 miles east of Merthyr Tydfil. They went on to have a daughter, Evelyn, in 1849 in Shoreditch. They ran a draper's shop at 12 High Street, Shoreditch, which was described as successful and prosperous for several years.

However, in 1850 William's business got into difficulty and his health deteriorated. He spent a few weeks at Hoxton House, a lunatic asylum, in July and August 1850 and also contracted typhoid and needed an operation for a hernia. Solicitors took over his financial affairs in September 1850, suggesting he was close to bankruptcy. Amidst these difficulties William died on 13th October 1850, at home at 12 High Street, Shoreditch. He was 36.

It seems that Mary and her daughter returned to Merthyr Tydfil for some time after William's death, presumably to stay with her family there. Mary's daughter was baptised at Dowlais in January 1851. By the census at the end of March 1851 Mary and her daughter had returned to the London area, accompanied by Mary's sister Catherine. The census finds them living at 12 Holywell Street in Shoreditch, with Mary working as a linen draper.

Some time between 1851 and 1853 Mary emigrated to Australia, settling in the Melbourne area in Victoria. She married again there on 9th June 1853 to William Bucknell. Shortly after their marriage, Mary's daughter Evelyn from her first marriage died, aged four.

Mary and William Bucknell appear to have had at least two children together in the 1850s in Victoria.

Mary died on 18th July 1866, aged 42, at Collingwood, in the suburbs of Melbourne.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Llanbedr Painscastle, Radnorshire, Wales. Parish Registers.

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of [blank] in the County of [blank] in the Year 1824
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   98	July 17th	Maryanne illegitimate Daug[hte]r of	Anne	Lloyd	Painscastle	Officer of Excise's Daughter	W. Williams, Curate

2.   England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1533; Folio 33; Page 1, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 12 Holywell Street, Shoreditch, Middlesex
   Mary Ann Timothy, head, widow, female, 25 [1825/6], Linen Draper, b. Wales
   Eveline Timothy, daughter, female, 2 [1848/9], b. Shoreditch, Middlesex
   Catharine Prosser, sister, unmarried, female, 22 [1828/8], Assistant, b. Wales

3. ↑ Victoria, Australia. Civil Registration Indices.

   d. Mary Ann BUCKNELL, Victoria, 8579 / 1866

4. ↑ The Age, Melbourne, Victoria (trove.nla.gov.au)
   Page 4, Fri 20 Jul 1866.

   DEATHS.
   BUCKNELL. - On the 18th inst., aged thirty-seven years, Mrs Mary Ann Bucknell, of Peel-street, Collingwood. Launceston papers, please copy.