Person:William Kelly (89)

William Kelly was born on 11th January 1863 at Birkenhead in Cheshire, the eldest son of a couple named Dennis Kelly and his wife Catherine Ralston, who had married the previous year. Catherine was only 16 years old when she gave birth to William. William was born at 5 St Anne Street, which was the home of his great-grandmother: Ellen Coghlan, maternal grandmother of William's mother Catherine. Ellen had raised Catherine and her siblings after their parents' deaths. William was named after Catherine's father, William Ralston, a stone mason from Scotland, who had died in New York in 1854 when Catherine was only seven years old.

William grew up in Birkenhead, where his father worked as a dock labourer and as a ships' boiler maker. On 31st December 1890, aged 27, he married Ellen Thomas, who was originally from Shrewsbury and had already had two young sons born at Whitchurch in Shropshire. William and Ellen married in Liverpool, but returned to Birkenhead to live, appearing in the 1891 living with William's parents, and in the 1901 census living with William's brother John. William and Ellen do not appear to have had any further children. In Birkenhead, William worked as a general labourer and cattle drover.

Although William's birth was registered simply as 'William Kelly', his marriage and death certificates both call him 'William Francis Kelly'. In about 1907 William started to suffer with what was simply described as "general paralysis". It is not clear whether this paralysis was a sudden onset (perhaps a stroke or spinal injury) or degenerative. Whatever it was, he lived with it for about two and a half years, and by the end of his life was living in the Cheshire Asylum on the edge of Chester. He died there on 31st December 1909 - coincidentally his and Ellen's nineteenth wedding anniversary. He was 46 years old.

Ellen survived William by nearly forty years. She remarried in 1911.

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

   1863. Birth in the Sub-district of Birkenhead in the County of Chester
   No. [?]58
   When and where born: Eleventh January 1863, 5 St Anne Street
   Name: William
   Sex: Boy
   Father: Dennis Kelly, Boilermakers Labourer
   Mother: Catherine Kelly, formerly Ralston
   Informant: Catherine Kelly, Mother, 5 St Anne Street, Birkenhead
   Registered: Eleventh February 1863

   
2. ↑ 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 3745; Folio 174; Page 4, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 195 Eccleston Terrace, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kenny, head, unmarried, male, 30 [1840/1], Dock Labourer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, sister, unmarried, female, 25 [1845/6], Brothers Housekeeper, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Henry Kenny, brother, unmarried, male, 16 [1854/5], Shop boy (out of employment), b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelly, boarder, married, male, 31 [1839/40], Rivetters Labourer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kelly, boarder, married, female, 25 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   William Kelly, boarder, male, 8 [1862/3], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kelly, boarder, male, 1 [1869/70], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

3. ↑ 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 3577; Folio 6; Page 6, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: 22 Eldon Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelley, head, married, male, 40 [1840/1], General Laborer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kelley, wife, married, female, 36 [1844/5], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   William Kelley, son, unmarried, male, 18 [1862/3], General Laborer, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Bridget Kelley, daughter, unmarried, female, 14 [1866/7], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Christina Kelley, daughter, female, 9 [1871/2], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John J. Kelley, son, male, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Edward Kelly, son, male, 7 [1873/4], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Dennis Kelly, son, male, 4 [1876/7], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Alexander Kelly, son, male, 2 [1878/9], Scholar, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   John Kenny, boarder, unmarried, male, 40 [1840/1], General Laborer, b. Ireland
   Catherine Kenny, sister, unmarried, female, 35 [1845/6], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Patrick Lynch, boarder, married, male, 23 [1857/8], General Laborer, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Mary A. Lynch, wife, married, female, 23 [1857/8], b. Birkenhead, Cheshire

4. ↑ 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 2880; Folio 83; Page 56, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 8 Eldon Place, Birkenhead, Cheshire [listed as a separate household but at the same address as his parents]
   1 room occupied
   William F. Kelly, head, married, male, 28 [1862/3], Cattle Drover, employed, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Ellen Kelly, wife, married, female, 25 [1865/6], b. Shrewsbury, Shropshire
   Tom Caldwell Thomas, stepson, male, 9 [1881/2], Scholar, b. Whitchurch, Shropshire
   Albert Thomas, stepson, male 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. Whitchurch, Shropshire

5. ↑ 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 3388; Folio 164; Page 19, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 42 Somerville Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire [listed as a separate household but at the same address as his brother John]
   3 rooms occupied
   William Kelly, head, married, male, 38 [1862/3], General Labourer, worker, b. Birkenhead, Cheshire
   Ellen Kelly, wife, married, female, 35 [1865/6], b. Shrewsbury, Shropshire
   Thomas Kelly, son, single, male, 19 [1881/2], Day Gateman, worker, b. Whitchurch, Shropshire
   Albert Kelly, son, single, male, 17 [1883/4], Hydraulic Strip?, worker, b. Whitchurch, Shropshire

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

   Registration District Chester
   1910 Death in the Sub-district of Chester Cathedral in the County Borough of Chester and County of Chester
   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
   295	Thirty first December1909 Cheshire Asylum R.D.	William Francis Kelly	Male	42 years	Boiler Maker of 8 Wye Street Rock Ferry Birkenhead U.D.	General Paralysis 2½ years P.M. certified by A. Lawrence M.D.	Ellen Kelly widow of deceased 105 Well Lane Higher Tranmere Birkenhead	Third January 1910	Arthur Hughson Registrar