last updated 25 April 2010
Chapter 1 The Scottish connection p2
Chapter 2 The Irish Burns and their emigration to Clydeside p5
Chapter 3 The family’s origins in Donegal p6
Chapter 4 The 1841 census and the Burns’ lodgers – more Donegal connections p8
Chapter 5 Anderston, the 1851 and 61 census. p8
The Scottish connection
The history of the Burns side of the family was always shrouded in a little mystery, as my Granda, John Burns was sent to stay with relatives when he one year old, after the death of his mother. He was, as it went in the family, ‘virtually an orphan’. However there was the mention of a Scottish connection, which my dad thought raised the possibility of a connection with our famous namesake ‘Rabbie’.
My Granda told me his father was John Henry Burns and that his grandfather was William Burns, John Henry must have been born about 1872. This allowed me to find the family in Newcastle on the 1881 Census, the first census information to be available on computer, in indexed form on CD-ROM. William’s birthplace is recorded as Scotland. I then found the family in Newcastle on the 1871 census. William’s mother in law was in the family group, her surname, mis-transcribed as Gasley on the 1881 CD-ROM, I later found, was Garvey. With this information I found William and Mary’s birth certificate, Gateshead 31 Dec.1867. The certificate showed that William’s father was Charles Burns, a jobbing labourer, and that he was dead by the date of William’s wedding.
So I was looking for Charles Burns, a jobbing labourer, living in Scotland at the time of William’s birth (C1846), presumably Catholic like his son William, and so likely Irish. (The vast majority of Catholic Scots were of Irish ancestry, with a smaller group of Scots Highlanders and Islanders; a religious survey of Glasgow in the 1780s found no Catholics in the city at all –Michael Gandy Catholic Missions in Scotland). Civil registration of Births, deaths and marriages was only introduced in Scotland in 1855, after William’s birth, so the usual means of finding a birth were ruled out.
I came across a fiche index of the 1861 census for most of Lanarkshire (the most populous county in Scotland, and the one that includes Glasgow) and Midlothian (including Edinburgh). Between them these two countries account for the bulk of industrially developed Scotland, and a large proportion of the total population of Scotland. This central belt also accounts for most of Catholic Scotland. On the 1871 English census the family name was recorded as Barnes, so I checked for Barnes, Burns and Burnes; there were surprisingly few entries. As Burns is of one of the most famous of Scots names, I had assumed that it was a common Scottish name. In fact the vast majority of Burns entries on the 1881 census of Newcastle relate to families of Irish origin, and this also applied to a significant proportion of Burns families on the 1861 census returns from central Scotland*.
*There were 1,480 Burns in Lanarkshire in 1861. After the peak immigrations years of the 1840s and early 50s, 393, over 25% of the total, were born in Ireland. The number of children born to Irish parents in Scotland cannot easily be quantified, but I suggest these numbers would easily double the number of Burns of Irish origin, to over 50% of the total.
In the whole of Lanarkshire and Midlothian, in 1861, there was only one Burns family headed by Charles, with a William of the right age as a son: Charles Burns of 16 Maitland Lane in the Milton district of Glasgow. However this man was described as a coal dealer, which sounds rather grander than a jobbing labourer. I also found the family at the same address in 1851 when Charles was working as a Carter.
From the Mormons’ CDRom, I printed off a list of 16 William Burns, born in Lanarkshire, and alive in 1881, to see how many others had a claim to be the son of Charles Burns of Maitland Lane. Most could be easily and definitely eliminated, and William Burns of Newcastle was the only candidate with evidence in his 1881 family group consistent with him being the William Burns born in Glasgow Milton. I also checked the on-line deaths index for Scotland and could not find a William Burns who died between 1861 and 1867 who could have been the son of Charles Burns of Milton.
The Scottish census had revealed Charles Burns wife to be called Grace, so I was quite excited when I discovered, several months later, that William had had a second (and short lived) daughter, Grace. The tradition in those days was to name the first daughter after the maternal grandmother and the second after the paternal grandmother. This suggested that William’s mother was called Grace.
I looked in vain in the Scottish records for the death, in the Milton district of Glasgow, of Charles Burns between 1861 and 1867. On a trip to Edinburgh I found the record of the death of Grace Burns in 1864, reported by her husband Charles and the wedding in 1865 of Charles Burns junior, son of Charles Burns deceased. Checking the deaths of all Charles Burns for this period I found Charles (usually of 16 Maitland Lane Barony) had died in the infirmary, in the High Church district of Glasgow, in 1865. The death of Charles was reported by his son William, who, unusually for someone from the ‘lower orders’ in those days could sign his name (William Burns was the earliest of all my ancestors to sign his name, Mary Ann Arthurs, an ancestor on the Monaghan-Corr side was the next, signing her name in 1867). The William Burns married at Gateshead two years later was also able to sign his name.
I looked for the record of the marriage banns for the Burns-Garvey wedding in the archives of the Catholic Church, the Church of Scotland (where all banns for all marriages; protestant and catholic should, according to law, have been called) and in the civil archives in Newcastle without success. I had hoped to find a reference in the banns to William’s birthplace in Scotland.
The final way I could think of to verify the connection between the Glasgow and Tyneside Burns was to compare the signatures of the ‘two Williams’. Scottish documents are more detailed than their English counterparts, and the death certificate of Charles Burns bore the signature of his son William. Obtaining a copy of the Tyneside William’s signature proved difficult. Though he had signed the wedding register in 1867, the copy requested from Southport (the national centre for records of births, deaths and marriages) which I hoped would have included William Burns’ signature proved to be a contemporary transcript. Finally I obtained a photocopy of William’s signature from the marriage register in the office at Gateshead in 10 Oct. 2002, and copies of William’s signature on the birth records of two of his children from Newcastle Register office. All the signatures varied, but I think, in the light of the other evidence, there was enough in common between, the Glasgow signature and the North Eastern ones to conclude that the Tyneside William and the Glasgow William were one and same person, the son of Charles Burns of Maitland Lane Glasgow. Accepting that the Maitland Lane Charles was William’s father, there was no evidence of any connection with Rabbie Burns, but there were the names of two ancestors in Ireland who must have been born in the 1780’s or earlier!
Scan in signatures!
The Irish Burns and their emigration to Clydeside
Documents (detailed later), relating to Charles Burns, reveal that the earliest known ancestor on the Burns side was Duncan Burns, an Irish farmer. If we assume Duncan and his wife Margaret McInulty were about 20 years of age at the birth of their son Charles they would have been born around 1781.
The name Burns is of Scottish origin, meaning one who lived by a burn or stream.
Burns is a surname common throughout the nine counties of Ulster (Antrim, Armagh Derry, Down Fermanagh, Tyrone - the present day Northern Ireland; and Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.
Charles Burns was married in Ireland to Grace McDade, the daughter of James McDade, a journeyman Tailor, and his wife Sarah or Sarah*, formerly McCorkle. Around 1825 Charles and Grace’s daughter Mary Burns was born in Ireland. The surnames of several families associated with the Burns, as witnesses and sponsors in religious ceremonies also had Donegal origins.
There are several pieces of circumstantial evidence which suggest Mary and Duncan Burns came from Donegal. The Archivist of the Glasgow Archdiocese, reports that immigration in the period 1824-1830 was almost exclusively from Donegal, this was the period when it seems the Burns came to Scotland. McInulty, Charles’ mother’s maiden name, is common in Donegal. McLysaght, the authority on Irish surnames, records the surname as McNulty, rather than McInulty. He explains that this name derives from the Gaelic Mac an Ultaigh - son of the Ulsterman. It would seem that at the time the name was recorded in Glasgow (1865?), the pronunciation was nearer to the Gaelic than the modern anglicised version.
MacLysaght gives the homeland of both the names McCorkle and McDade as Co.'s Donegal and Derry. So we have four connected surnames, all common to Donegal.
The Broomielaw on the Clyde was the setting down point for Irish immigrants to Scotland. This picture, taken in 1853, shows the harbour almost full of sailing ships and paddle steamers.
In 1818 the steam packet Rob Roy began to make regular crossings between Glasgow and Belfast. Competition on the route meant that by 1824 a crossing could be obtained for a fare of 3d (three old pence). There were steam packets crossing from Derry to Anderston Quay, with the Belfast boats landing slightly higher upstream. By 1831 a quarter of the inhabitants of Anderston, the Burgh west of Glasgow on the north bank of the Clyde, were Irish. Overcrowded steam packets were docking at Glasgow at a rate of 18 per week from Belfast, 12 per week from Derry and 6 per week from Dublin. ‘Every boat that arrives at the Broomielaw from Derry is literally crowded on deck with hundreds of poor creatures, who are huddled together and mixed up with horned cattle, pigs, sheep and lambs.’(1) ‘Another contemporary report described the arrival from Belfast of the Aurora,’ crowded in every part....the appearance of the vessel was that of a shipload of heads and faces’. It is also recorded that ships left Moville on the Inishowen peninsular in Donegal for Glasgow.
The first record of our ancestors’ extended family in Scotland was the baptism of Sarah McDade, daughter of James McDade and Janet McCorkle at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Clyde St, Glasgow on 2 April 1826, sponsors James Kyle and Honora McHue. Sarah had been born on the 27th of February, over a month earlier. Several other children a month or so old were baptised at St Andrews that day, in those days of high child mortality, baptism was usually carried out without delay, perhaps they had just arrived from Ireland. However the Cathedral was very busy, - by 1831, a quarter of the inhabitants of Anderston were Irish, so perhaps there was a waiting list for baptisms (2)
1 James Hanley The Irish in Scotland chapter 1 iii The Cross-channel Steamboats.
2 Villages of Glasgow Aileen Smart
The Saltmarket, Glasgow (Alexander Shanks) 1849
1841 Anderston
Charles Burns and family must have left Ireland sometime between 1825, when their first known child, Mary, was born in Ireland and 1841 when there is the first record of them in Scotland on that year’s census. They were at 130 Main St (now Argyll St) Anderston, a couple of hundred yards west of what is now Glasgow Central railway station. Anderston was the birthplace of James Watt, and the impact of his development of stream power is documented in the census, with many of the Burns’ neighbours employed in power loom weaving, and a few still working as hand loom weavers. The Burns household was made up of Charles (40), a labourer born Ireland, his wife Grace (35), born Ireland, and their Irish born daughter Mary (15) who was working in a cotton factory.
Power loom weaving C1835
The Burns’ family’s lodgers in 1841
Also in the household were Peter McGuiness (24) and Peter McDade (20), [look for these 2 on Scotland’s People] (presumably a relative of Grace’) both agricultural labourers, and three power loom weavers, Biddy Scholar (20) Helen Bonar (20) and Sarah McDade (16).
Main St Anderston, this picture was taken in the 1890s, but I do not know how old the buildings were by then.
*Sarah McDade and Peter Hughes
St Andrew’s Cathedral, Clyde Street, overlooks the river. The choice of Saint was an overture to the Scottish society from a church composed of a minority of Scots highlanders, and a majority of Irish Catholics, a conciliatory gesture which was on the whole rejected by the host community, who were often virulently anti Irish. The seat of the Archbishop of Glasgow, the most senior figure in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, St Andrew’s was built in 1816 – at a cost of £16,000. It was the first important example of the Gothic revival in Glasgow. A statue of the saint looks out from the apex of the building.
Both the 1841 and the 1851 census confirm that Sarah McDade (or McDead) was born in Lanarkshire (the county that includes Glasgow). I assume she was the baby girl whose baptism in Glasgow is detailed on page 6. Sarah was clearly a relative of Grace Burns, likely a niece or cousin as Sarah and Grace’s parents had the same surnames. Sarah married John Hughes (perhaps the son of Patrick Hughes*), and the couple appear as Charles and Graces’ lodgers in 1851. As was sometimes the practice before civil registration, they married in the Kirk, on 30 December 1849 in the Glasgow Parish; and two weeks later in St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral Clyde St (15 January 1850) (2), the witnesses were William Miller and Elizabeth Hughes. On 18 April 1856, at St Andrew's Glasgow, Sarah was the sole sponsor at the baptism of James Hughes, son of Charles and his wife, Catherine Cooke. John Hughes and Sarah (McDade) moved to England in about 1859 and appear on the 1871 census at Quality Row, Byker (they seem to have been missed off the 1861 census). There were two Scot born children in the family, Elizabeth, 16 and James, 14; Esther, their first English born child was born on 18 November 1860, at Ballast Hills, in East Newcastle, John was a kiln man at a pottery – there was a large pottery in nearby Byker.
* A family of this name, (all Irish born) appear on the census, at 5 Old Vennal Glasgow College]
Other McDades
Biddy Schoular
Biddy Schoular, the third of the female lodgers in 1841 later appears as a sponsor, with Thomas Donaghy at the baptism of Charles Burns in 1843. A Margaret Scooler was baptised at St Andrew's in 1827, the daughter of Samuel Scooler and Margaret Mooney; Margaret Swift, (the widow of James Swift) was the sister in law of Edward Swift, (-the husband of Mary McDade) Margaret's death certificate revealed that her parents were Robert Montgomery, a weaver, and Eliza Mooney.
Helen Bonar
Helen Bonar was another of the Burns’ lodgers in 1841, when she was 20. She married Patrick Duffy, ‘a labourer in Glasgow’ on 23 June 1850 at the Kirk in Glasgow. So far I have not found a record of a second Catholic wedding as was often the practice in those days, but the couple appear on the 1851 census of Scotland as Patrick (30) and Helen (26) Duffey at 30 Rotten Row; she was a power loom weaver, and her husband was a ‘labourer in public work’.
Helen applied to the parish for assistance in December 1856; it seems she was then 33, her husband, Patrick; a labourer at the gasworks, was ill and ‘she says has been in Ireland for three weeks’. The inspector recorded Helen’s birthplace as Donegal. Helen had two children Mary (4) and Patrick (8 months). Mary’s baptism has not been found, but the register of St Andrew's Glasgow (now available on the Scotland's People site) shows Patrick, born on 8 April 1856, was baptised on 14 April, the sponsors were Thomas Fisher, and Catherine McDade. The Duffys lived at '94 Gallowgate, first left, low door'.
The Duffy family appear on the 1861 census at 88 Gallowgate, Glasgow (like Rotten Row just east of the city centre). Helen was 35, Patrick was 44; there were two children, Mary (5) and Helen (2), so it seems young Patrick had not survived. Helen died aged 40, of TB at 11.am on 15 January 1865 at 94 Gallowgate, Calton, Glasgow, she had received no recent medical attention, her death was reported by Patrick. Helen’s death certificate shows her parents were John Bonar and Elizabeth Johnston.
Four years later a Patrick Duffy died at 18 Salt Market Glasgow, the husband of Helen Coyle, he was the son of Thomas Duffy and Bridget McInulty, it is not certain but it seems likely that he was the widower of Helen Bonar (I have looked for wht would have been Patrick’s second marriage, post 1865 on line but haven’t found it so far.) . Thomas Duffy’s sister Helen Murray of 65 High St died in February 1867, the daughter of Thomas Duffy and Bridget McInulty; presumably kinsmen of the Burns/McInultys.
When young Mary Duffy was married to James McTear in 1870 at St Andrews Cathedral, her father had been posthumously transformed from a general labourer and one time street sweeper to grain dealer (Charles Burns underwent a similar posthumous transformation, from porter to miller, at the time of his son Charles junior’s wedding).
John McDead, iron dresser, married Anne Bonar, both of Anderston on 15 January 1854, at the Kirk in the Barony further research may show if this couple were connected to our family.
So it seems likely that the Burns’ lodgers in 1841, Bonars Schoulars and McDades were relatives, by blood, marriage or both. Peter McGuiness remains to be found.
The 1841 census also shows a household of McDades and Burns* nearby in the Bannocks in Cheapside St. who may, or may not have been relatives. Interesting there is a note in the margin next to Rosanne Burns entry Co D, which I take to mean Co Donegal (though of course it could mean Down or Dublin).
*Or is is Browns? The entry is very difficult to read.
Carts and Carters in Gallowgate 1868 Carts in the Saltmarket 1868
The 1841 census records an Irish household of Gallaghers, Burns, and McDades in Bell St, near Glasgow cross, just east of the city centre. There were also McDeads in Denny’s Land in the Barony, Hugh (50) was born in Ireland, but the four younger members of the group aged 20 – 1 were born in Lanarkshire suggesting an arrival in Scotland around 1820 or earlier. On the other hand Andrew and Elizabeth McDade of Clyde St had just arrived in Scotland, as all but Elizabeth (1) at Clyde St, were Irish born.
View all names of interest Burns McN McD McC Bonar Swift Mooney, Schoolar etc & prepare brief digest of interrelations.
Confirmation of the Burns’ origins in Donegal
The initial report of my gt gt gt grandfather, Charles Burns’ death was corrected on 21 February 1865, by his brother, John. In August 2007 I came across an application for relief to the Barony Parish (Glasgow) from Charles’ brother John which confirmed that the Burns came from Donegal, the application gave the first documentary of our origins.
In 1868 John Burns applied for assistance to the Poor Law Guardians. In the course of the application a lot of interesting information about John was recorded. He was born about 1814. John was the son of Duncan Burns and Margaret McInulty, both dead, he had been born in Donegal. John’s family is described later.
Anderston Mill
One of the wonders of Anderston was the incombustible cotton mill built by Henry Houldsworth in Cheapside St. According to a contemporary account of the construction of the mill in 1805, ‘the floor was supported by metal pipes, - which at the same time served the purpose of conveying steam for heating the house’. As Aileen Smart comments in her history of Anderston, ‘the early central heating system was not for the benefit of the workers, who, on the contrary had to endure temperatures averaging 75º F so that the high levels of humidity needed for the spinning process could be maintained’. These were the sort of conditions that Mary Burns and the three power loom weavers would have faced at work, perhaps in Houldsworth’s mill. The 1841 and 1851 census returns show both power loom and hand loom weavers showing an industry in transition.
Charles and Grace Burns’ son Charles was born on 29 Oct. 1843, and baptised at St Andrew’s Cathedral on the 5 Nov. sponsors Biddy Schoular (one of the lodgers from 1841) and Thomas Donaghy; a Thomas Donaghy, an Irish porter and family appear at Well St in the Barony on the 1841 census.
The trial of Daniel O’Connell, the Irish nationalist leader, began in January 1844, meetings were held in Glasgow (and Newcastle) to protest against the exclusion of Catholics from the jury. |
Charles and Grace's had a son, born on 3 July 1846 and baptised William on 12 July that year (sponsors Sponsors Thomas N---dy and Ann Brattin?). William must have died young as he does not appear on a census, and a second William Burns was born on 7 June 1848, and baptised at St Andrews on 20 June. His sponsor, or godmother was Anne McCorkerran, (presumably the aunt who was the Burns lodger in both 1851 and 61, see below).
In 1846 Anderston was absorbed by the City of Glasgow |
A few years later the census of 31 March 1851 found the Burns family at 18 Maitland Lane, the Barony (a district just north of Anderston). Charles (49) was a general carter, Grace (40), Charles (8) a scholar, William (3) and Grace jnr. (3 months, look for her baptism at St Patrick’s Church, Cranston Hill from 1850). Visitors, in the household were Nancy McCorkle (61) unmarried, a house servant born in Ireland (I assume Grace senior’s aunt, Nancy is a variation on Anne). Also in the Burns household was John Hughes (30) Pottery worker b. Ireland, and his wife Sarah (McDade) Hughes (24), steam loom weaver (24) b. Lanarkshire – Grace Burns’ niece. Mary Burns was not in the family, she may have been the woman who married Thomas Gallagher on 4 June 1841 at St Andrew’s.
A John McDade, iron dresser, married an Ann Bonar, both of Anderston on 15 January 1854, at the Barony Kirk; so far I have not found a record of a Catholic marriage.
Dobbie’s Loan*
*Loan 'a grassy cattle track through arable ground, a roadway that leads to the (farm) house.' (The Pocket Scots Dictionary) - Dobbie’s loan had certainly changed since it was first named.
Edward Swift and Mary McDade
In 1870, in her application for Poor Law Relief, Grace Burns junior described Mary Swift as her aunt. The marriage of Edward Swift and Mary McDade gave more information about the McDades and McCorkles in Ireland. Edward and Mary were married at St Joseph’s Catholic Chapel, Woodside Rd, the Barony on 5 September 1859*. Mary reported that she was the daughter of James McDade, tailor and Jane McCorkle, both deceased. This puts a question mark over Mrs McDade senior's first name - I suspect it was Jane, as reported by her daughter Mary at her own wedding, rather than Sarah, as reported by her son in law, Charles Burns, on the death of Grace his wife in June 1864 (Charles had quite a record of recording the wrong names!). The Swifts were at 71 Dalhousie St in 1861 with Edward’s son James (22) a potter, and a granddaughter (4). Ten years later they were at 52 Cheapside St. Edward had aged 20 years in ten years and was now said to be 81 but still working as a mason’s labourer. Mary was 65, their granddaughter was still in the household, both Mary and her granddaughter were weavers.
*Both bride and groom had been widowed; I’ll check the register of St Joseph’s to see if the surname of Mary’s first husband is recorded.
** I believe it is likely that Mary Burns was Charles and Grace's second daughter, sharing, as she does, the Christian name of Charles' mother; the first daughter was traditionally named after the maternal grandmother – Jane. Were there also a Duncan and a James Burns?
Charles Burns Coal Dealer
In 1861, the Burns family were at 16 Maitland Lane where they were the sole occupants. Charles (48 - a year younger than he was a decade ago) was now described as a coal dealer. Grace (42, one year older than she was in 1851) Charles junior (16) an iron presser. William (12) and Grace (10). Also in the household was Agnes McCorkle (60) spinster, Grace’s aunt, born in Ireland. Perhaps Charles was having some success in business at this time, as there were no lodgers in the household, apart from his wife’s aunt. But Charles Burns does not appear as a coal dealer in any of the Post Office Directories for the period of his working life in Scotland, suggesting his business was small, short lived, or both.
The census reveals that 16 Maitland Lane had two rooms with one or more windows. [How many rooms did they have?
Ann McCorkle died of ‘old age (57) on 11 February 1862 at 16 Maitland Lane, Charles Burns, ‘her nephew’ (actually her niece’s husband) reported the death, no details of Ann’s parents were recorded*.
Grace Burns (jnr) in a later application to the Parish stated that her father had kept a ‘coal rea’, from the context this word must mean a store or depot, but so far I have failed to find a definition of the word. Here’s a little on the coal porters of 18th century London, their lot was, I imagine, little different to that of their Glasgow brothers in the 1840s-50s.
‘Most people in today's affluent societies would find that carrying a load of 25 kilograms (55 pounds) for any distance was quite an arduous task. Yet, for much of history, labourers were expected to carry much heavier loads. In the 18th century, coal porters in London regularly bore loads of about 90 kg (198 pounds). One 18th century observer, John Desaguliers, noted in 1734, the men delivering coal to buildings "running all the way at every turn, they go up two ladders...and perhaps climb up a staircase or two before they shoot their coals, and this most of them will do about sixty times a day."
The Glasgow City Regulations of 1807 regarding Coal Porters, which were in force at least up to the end of the 1830’s fixed an initial charge of 3d for carrying the cart of coals up the first stair, and for every other stair 3 halfpence, it must have been hard and dirty work.
*As is apparent, Charles Burns, and his brother John often prove vague, and inaccurate when recalling names of relatives and in-laws.
The deaths of Grace and Charles Burns
Grace Burns (senior) died at 16 Maitland Street (aka Maitland Lane) on Friday 3 June 1864, from Chronic Bronchitis. Her death was reported by Charles, her husband, who was described as a coal dealer, Charles could not sign his name and made his mark. It was Grace’s death certificate that revealed the names of her parents, or at least that of her father- James McDade, a journeyman tailor, deceased at the time of Grace’s death; her mother, named Sarah McCorkle, - according to Charles Burns, was also deceased by 1864. On another occasion, Grace’s McDade’s sister Mary gave their mother’s name as Jane
The Royal Infirmary Glasgow
The Royal Infirmary was founded by a group of Glasgow's leading citizens and opened in 1794. The building was designed by Robert (1728-92) and James Adam and built on the site of the Archbishop's Palace to the north of the Cathedral. It was demolished and replaced by a new and larger hospital in the early twentieth century.
Just over a year later Charles Burns, coal Carrier of 16 Maitland Lane, widower, of Grace ‘McAlpin’ died in Glasgow Infirmary of chronic bronchitis and dropsy*, at 9pm on Sunday 19 Feb. 1865. The death was reported by William Burns on 21 Feb. William signed his name. On Saturday 25 Feb., after the presentation of a deposition, the entry regarding Charles Burns' death was amended. A sworn statement was made by John Burns, carter, brother of Charles, William, son of Charles, and Joseph Rodgers, friend and neighbour of the deceased, that Charles was not 64 years old, but 54. This claim is only plausible if you accept that Charles Burns was 16 (and presumably, his wife 7) when their daughter was born in 1826. In all the excitement over Charles age no one notice that Charles was described as the widower of Grace McAlpin – the usual confusion over names. Grace’s maiden name is clearly recorded, twice in the baptism register of Glasgow Cathedral as McDade, as it is on her own death cert. and her son Charles’ marriage cert. It’s a shame no one noticed this mistake; but then again it’s likely that no one in the party could read well, or even read at all.
Joseph Rodgers, John’s friend and neighbour, and family appear on the 1861 census. Joseph was a coal dealer, his daughter was a dress maker and his two sons glass cutters. [Was he Irish or Scots?]
William Burns’ brother and sister, Charles and Grace, Liverpool
Charles Burns (jnr), an iron turner, of 98 Cowcadden’s St, William’s brother was married to Mary Ann Edwards, a domestic servant, on 16 July 1865 at St Joseph’s Chapel, Cowcaddens, Glasgow. Mary Ann was the daughter of a deceased sea captain. Charles and Mary Ann had a daughter Mary Grace, born on 19 May 1866, and baptised at St Joseph’s, Tollcross, Glasgow, sponsor Margaret Crawford. At the time Charles and Mary Ann lived at 48 Water Street, a few doors down from Charles’ uncle John. Their next daughter, Jane, was born on 2 December 1867 at 42 Lyon St Glasgow, Jane was baptised at St Joseph’s on 3 January 1868, her sponsor was Mary Ann Malloy/Mulloy. Jane’s birth certificate confirms Charles’ occupation as iron turner. Mary Grace Burns died, aged 8 months, at one in the morning on 23 January 1867 at 516 Dobbies’ Loan after an 8 day attack of bronchitis.
This firm had a telegraph address in 1854, Charles’ workplace ?
The family appear on the 1871 census in Liverpool, they were living at 50 Portland St, in the, predominantly Irish, Scotland ward of Liverpool [the name Burns is clearly recorded but they have been indexed on A.com as Buras]. The census shows Charles, 26, turner, and it reveals that Mary Ann came from Shrewsbury [look for on Scots/English censuses] Charles and Mary Ann had a one year old Liverpool born daughter Isabella. The Scots born Jane was missing
Deaths Dec 1869 (>99%)
|
Burns | Jane | 0 | | 8b | | |
?Burns | Jane | 0 | | 8b | | |
?
The presence of the family in the city may explain why Charles’ sister Grace came to be in the poorhouse in Liverpool. Perhaps she travelled there to find her brother, and either did not find him, or perhaps found him and his wife less hospitable than she had hoped.
Mary Ann’s parents? Marriages Mar 1839
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+1839EDWARDS | John |
| | 27 | | |
GRIFFITHS | Jane | | | 27 | |
|
| | |
| | | |
Births Jun 1844 (>99%)
|
Edwards | Mary Ann | | | 18 | | |
Births Mar 1845 (>99%)
| |
EDWARDS | Mary Ann | | | 18 | |
|
Liverpool Workhouse, Brownlow Hill 1770, now the site of the Catholic cathedral.
Grace Burns’ experience in the poor houses of Glasgow and Liverpool
From poor law relief documents we know that Grace Burns, William’s sister, travelled from Scotland to England, - Liverpool in the spring of 1869. She may have travelled by rail or road, or it’s possible she travelled by sea. Grace was in various parts of Liverpool for 13 months. She was at Dover Street, an address near the Liverpool Royal infirmary for 6 months before being admitted to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse, she was described as being of Catholic religion, and was ‘temporarily disabled’.
Grace remained in the medical ward for 5 months. Liverpool Catholic Cathedral now stands on the site of the old workhouse. Grace was removed from Liverpool under a magistrates’ warrant in mid October, after an application from the Guardians of the Poor. At a hearing before the Petty Sessions an order was made that Grace be returned to the Barony of Lanarkshire, and delivered to the Inspector of the Poor. On her return to Clydeside, Grace went to stay with an aunt, Mrs Swift (Mary McDade), at 67 Dalhonsie St, The Barony.
An application was made for relief 28 Oct 1870, and she was admitted to the workhouse then. It seems Grace was in the ‘Nunnery at Lanark’ prior to going to Liverpool. The inspector found Grace wholly disabled through ‘general ill health and giddiness’. The inspector’s report relates that Grace’s father Charles kept a coal rea. As was traditional Grace’s mother’s name was misrecorded (as Grace McDonald on this occasion). Grace Burns was sent home on 17 Nov. 1870. The census of the following spring found Grace (19) a domestic servant back in the Barnhill Poor house, Springburn, Glasgow, where she died of TB on 13 February 1873; a 22 year old servant girl, ‘parents unknown’.
On 23 November 1852 the pauper Patrick McDade was removed from St John’s parish, Newcastle to Anderston, Glasgow, he had left Anderston 9 months earlier. ‘Received the sum of four shillings passage money to Leith John Strachan, second steward 23 Nov 1852.’ ‘Removed Pat. McDade to Glasgow 23 Nov 1852 Henry Sibbert’ (Assistant Overseer of the Parochial Chapelry of St John) Was this man a relative?
In 1881 Charles and Mary Ann Burns were at 22 Victoria Terrace, in the Great George area of Liverpool, they had 4 daughters; Isabella 11, Grace 7, Mary Ann 4 and Charlotte 5 months. After the birth of six daughters Charles must have concluded that he would never have a son, I assume the naming of his youngest, Charlotte to be in memory of his father and namesake Charles Burns. So far I have not found the family on the 1891 census, Charles may have been a man in a lodging house at 28 Christian Street, Liverpool in 1901 (tin plate worker, born Glasgow). [More work needs to be done researching the Liverpool Burns]
John and Rose Burns and the origin of the Burns in Donegal A number of facts suggest the Burns came from the South of Donegal, near its border with Tyrone. In fact it’s only 16 miles from Donegal town to the Tyrone border, and 28 miles to Omagh, a town in the middle of Tyrone. The celebrant of John Burns' marriage, in Donegal, around 1840 was Fr McCafferty. The only such priest listed in the 1836 'Complete Catholic Registry and Almanack' was Father Eu (presumably Eugene) McCafferty, parish priest of Tanavilly parish. The Irish Times, 'Irish Ancestors” site shows Tawnawilly parish. Tawnawilly is the Catholic parish for Donegal town, civil parish Donegal. John's bride, Rose Monaghan, was daughter of Patrick Monaghan and Mary Moss, (both still alive in 1868) Griffith's Valuation of Ireland shows a Patrick Monaghan holding land in Donegal civil parish. [Search for Scholars and other associated families in GVI] In the survey of land tenure known as Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, (1848-64) the only Duncan Burns renting or owning land in the whole of Ireland was Duncan Burns of Foyagh Rd in the townland of Ballintra, Drumholm parish Co. Donegal in 1857. Drumhome Civil Parish is immediately south of Donegal civil parish, which contains Tawnawilly Charles Burns father would have been at least 77 by 1857, given the rarity of the name Duncan in Ireland it seems safe to assume that this man was Charles' brother, or his father. I intend to examine the parish records of Drumholm parish to see if there is any information of relevance to Duncan Burns.
* There is only one Catholic parish of the 40 in Co. Donegal whose records go back to the 18th century, all the rest date from the late1840’s or earlier.
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