The Lieflock Line, Wootton Rivers and Tangley Trees

email Graham 12-Jun-06: Just to let you know, gentlemen, that 'my' contact on this piece of business has been busy adding all sorts of data to her Genes Reunited tree. I haven't checked it all out, but she still has 6 Jun 1908 as Francis and Amy's wedding date for instance, and has decided that Amy was the Amy Maud Sheridan whose birth was registered in Pancras in 1Q 1885 (ref 1b 188). Where did Dublin come from?

email Robin Lovelock 28-Jun-06 David Lovelock stated that the Dublin birth place came from his parents.

email Graham Lovelock 6-Jul-06: Checked 1901 census for Amy Sheridan - there are only 4 of them. There is an A Sheridan born in Ireland as well, but he or she was 51 years old.

Of the 4 Amys, the birth years are 1875/6, 1878/9, 1884/5 and 1888/9. More to the point, the only Amy M Sheridan is the one born in 1884/5 (ie she was 16 at the time of the Census), and she was born in Somers Town, London, which is of course in the St Pancras RD. Needless to say, the other 3 were not born in either London or Ireland. Amy was a servant (Housemaid) in 1901, for Mrs Julia Wood, in Winns Rd, Lee, Lewisham. Mrs Wood had another servant, her cook, a widowed lady aged 58 born in Newbury, Berks. Name? Mary A Sheridan.

So, not surprisingly, I turned to the 1891 Census in some hopes ...... only to have them completely dashed. I can't find either Amy or Mary under any variation of the name I can think of. In fact although there ought to be at least 3 Amys from the 1901 records there are only 2, one of whom is not in the 1901 records. In 1881 there were almost 150 Mary or Mary Ann(e) Sheridans, but none of them born in Newbury.

Summary by Robin Lovelock 15-Jul-06 (in an email to David Lovelock): As I'm sure you recall, David, the GRO death registration which I located - Lovelock, Amy Maud: July/Sept 1969, Lewisham, vol. 5d, p. 607 - includes her DoB as 29 Jan 1883, as per your 'family sources' (but inevitably with no birthplace, unfortunately). But there's also the following birth registration - Sheridan, Amy Maud: Jan/March 1885, Pancras, vol. 1b, p. 188. Since there aren't loads of women around with those name(s) there's certainly a puzzle to be solved.

Graham scoured the 1901 census for Amy Sheridans and found a handful; only one was Amy M and she was indeed stated as born in St Pancras in 1884/5. In 1901 she was a servant, and in the very same household was a widow, Mary A Sheridan; on the face of it maybe mother and daughter. However, Graham couldn't find either of them in the 1891 and for this and other reasons I won't bother you with it seemed that Mary Ann was (as it were) a red herring. However, independently of each other, Graham and I each found this interesting 1891 entry:

5 Little Randolph St, St Pancras RG12 131 F32 P59 Charles Sheridan Head, 36, Widower, Police Constable (Met), born St Helier Jersey Henry Sheridan Son, 11, born London, St Georges Lucy Sheridan Daur, 8, born London, St Pancras James Sheridan Son, 6, born London, St Pancras Maud Sheridan Daur, 5, born London, St Pancras Catherine Sheridan Daur, 3, born London St Pancras

(I'd made use of a Name Index for the London 1891 which I have access to, and tried a search on 'Maud Sheridan' as well as one on 'Amy Sheridan'.)

Graham then found the following 1881 entry, with Maud's mother then evident:

76 Berwick St, St James, Westminster RG11 126 F50 P29

Charles Hy [sic] Sheridan Head, 28, Tailor Trimmer, Jersey Selina Sheridan Wife, 23, Dressmaker, Alderney (Channel Islands) Henry Sheridan Son, 1, Middlesex, London

And to support the lack of mother/wife in the 1891 entry above, FreeBMD has the following death:

Selina Sarah Sheridan, Jan/March 1890 (aged 32), vol. 1b, p. 156

Graham couldn't find a marriage entry for Charles Henry and Selina, suggesting they may have married in the Channel Islands?

All of which takes us rather a long way from Dublin.

David Lovelock replied 17-Jul-06 including the following: "I have just phoned my uncle, John Leslie Lovelock, who now lives in Wales, and he is "99% sure" that his mother, Amy Maud, was born in Ireland."

December 2009

With information from the 1911 Census now available, Robin Lovelock has re-examined the apparent conflicts and inconsistencies attaching to Amy Maud Sheridan which emerged earlier (see above). The 1911 entry for Francis George and Amy Maud Lovelock and their family (see below for details) seems to confirm that Amy Maud was not only the person whose birth was registered in Pancras in 1885 but also that she was born in that area, rather than in Dublin; it further confirms that she and Francis George married in 1908. In view of this, Robin revisited the other data located in 2006 (see above) and embarked on a detailed search of other available resources, resulting in the following portfolio of data:

1851

39 Parade Place, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands HO107 2527 F54 P15

Patrick Sheridan;Head, Married;41;Publican, Chelsea pensioner (Quarter Master Sergt);Ireland Catherine Sheridan;Wife, Married;30;;Corfu James Patrick Sheridan;Son;5;Scholar;East Indies, Poonah Emma Margaret Sheridan;Daur;2;;St Helier, Jersey Amelia Catherine Sheridan;Daur;2;;St Helier, Jersey Elizabeth Malzard;Servant;14;House Servant;St Helier, Jersey

1861

Church Street, St Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands RG9 4374 P37 F80

John Weeks;Head, Married;45;Mason & Gardener;England Sarah Weeks;Wife, Married;40;;England John R. Weeks;Son;11;;Guernsey Helena E. Weeks;Daur;5;Scholar;Alderney Selena[sic] S. Weeks;Daur;3;Scholar;Alderney Mary E. Rowe;Servant;16;General Servant;England James Hordor;Gardener, Umn;39;Gardener's Assistant;England

1871

No. 2 Laffaley's Yard, St Heliers [sic], Jersey, Channel Islands RG10 5757 P15 F76

John Weeks;Head, Married;53;Mason;England Sarah Weeks;Wife, Married;51;Mason's Wife;England John Weeks;Son, Unm;21;Mason;Guernsey Elvina Weeks;Daur;15;;Alderney Selena[sic] Weeks;Daur;13;;Alderney Eliza Weeks;Daur;11;;Alderney George Weeks;Son;9;;Alderney Hannah Weeks:;Daur;5;England

1871

5 Waterloo St, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands RG10 5757 F98 P19

Patrick Sheridan;Head, Widower;61;Publican;Ireland James Sheridan;Son, Unm;25;Musician;East Indies, Poonah, British Subject Charles Sheridan;Son, Unm;18;Apprentice Tailor;St Helier, Jersey Mary Ann Sheridan;Daughter, Unm;14;Apprentice Tailor;St Martin's, Jersey

1881

76 Berwick St, St James, Westminster, London, England RG11 126 F50 P29

Charles Hy [sic] Sheridan;Head;28;Tailor Trimmer;Jersey Selina Sheridan;Wife;23;Dressmaker;Alderney (Channel Islands) Henry Sheridan;Son;1;;Middlesex, London

There is no marriage of a Charles Sheridan and Selina Weeks in the Free BMD data, which leads us to the conclusion that they married in the Channel Islands, probably in Jersey (where both were evidently resident in 1871, but Selina was only 13), some time between 1874 and Sep 1879, when the birth of their son Henry Charles W Sheridan was registered in St Georges Hanover Square Registration District.

1891

5 Little Randolph St, St Pancras, London, England RG12 131 F32 P59

Charles Sheridan;Head;36, Widower;Police Constable (Met);St Helier, Jersey Henry Sheridan;Son;11;; St Georges, London Lucy Sheridan;Daur;8;;St Pancras, London James Sheridan;Son;6;St Pancras, London Maud Sheridan;Daur;5;St Pancras, London Catherine Sheridan;Daur;3;St Pancras, London

Charles' wife Selina is identified as the subject of the following death registration entry:

Selina Sarah Sheridan, Jan-Mar 1890, Pancras RD, vol. 1b, p. 156, (aged 32)

In addition to identifying registrations of the births of Lucy, James, Maud and Catherine in Pancras during the period October 1882 – December 1887 inclusive, the birth of a Selina Sarah Sheridan was registered in the same RD in the Jan/Mar quarter of 1890 (vol 1b, p 186). Thus it seems probable that Selina Sarah snr died in or shortly following childbirth.

We had collated the 1881 and 1891 Census entries for this family earlier (see above), along with Selina Sarah Sheridan’s death registration, but we were unsure how, if at all, these data related to the future wife of Francis George Lovelock.

Robin has acquired a copy of the birth certificate for the daughter Maud appearing in the 1891 entry above, which provides the following details:

Born: 29 January 1885, 52 St Paul's Road Name: Amy Maud Sex: Girl Father: Charles Sheridan Mother: Selina Sheridan, Formerly Weeks Father's occupation: Draper's Assistant Informant: S. Sheridan, Mother, 52 St Paul's Rd, Pancras Date reg'd: 12 March 1885

This precisely confirms the details of Amy Maud’s birth and also provides the appropriate confirmation that Charles Sheridan married Selina Weeks.

Following the death of Selina, Charles Henry Sheridan married Mary Anne Sheppard in the Wandsworth Registration District in Oct-Dec 1893 (vol 1d, p 1165). Charles himself appears to be the subject of the following death registration entry:

Charles Henry W Sheridan, Oct-Dec 1897, Woolwich RD, (vol 1d, p 760) (age 42)

This explains the following 1901 Census Return:

1901

2 Winn Rd, Lewisham, London, England RG13 547 F139 P52

Julia Wood;Head, Widow;59;Living on own means;Ogbourne, Wilts Beatrice C Wood;Daur;28;;Ogbourne, Wilts Frederick B Wood;Son;26;Clerk - Lloyd's Register of shipping;Ogbourne, Wilts Mary A Sheridan;Serv, Wid;58;Cook Domestic;Newbury, Berks Amy M Sheridan;Serv;16;Housemaid Domestic;Somers Town, London

Again we had located this entry earlier, without being able to draw any firm conclusions about its relevance. As already suggested in introducing this summary of our recent research, the following 1911 Census Return, after the marriage of Amy Maud Sheridan to Francis George Lovelock in the Apr-Jun quarter of 1908, confirms the key relationships:

86 Brookdale Road, Catford, London, England RG14 PN2780 RG78 PN95 RD29 SD3 ED31 SN350

Francis George Lovelock;Head;29;Blacksmith for Builder;Wootton Rivers, Wilts Amy Maud Lovelock;Wife, married 3 years;26;;Rochester Row, Camden Town Catherine Annie Sheridan Lovelock;None stated;2;;108 Silvermere Rd, Catford Mary Annie Sheridan;Wife's Mother (sic), Widow;69;;Newbury, Berks Caroline Elizabeth Harvey;Visitor, Single;21;Costumer for Tailor;Colchester, Essex

Mary Ann(i)e Sheridan (formerly Sheppard) died in 1915: Mary A Sheridan, Jan-Mar 1915, Lewisham RD, vol 1d, p 1643 (age 73)

There are still some inconsistencies concerning ages and places, but these are put down to the vagaries of memory on the part of the principal characters. The essential facts are considered now to have been assembled, resulting in the following major conclusions:

Amy Maud Sheridan was born in Pancras, London in 1885, not in Dublin, Ireland in 1883. The mother of Amy Maud (later Lovelock) was Selina Sarah Weeks, not a Mary Annie (initially added to the database in September 2009 as Mary Annie Unknown, in view of the 1911 entry). Amy Maud's step-mother was Mary Ann(i)e Sheppard (Sheppard being either her name at birth or by virtue of a marriage prior to that to Charles Sheridan in 1893).

The appropriate changes and additional data have now been incorporated in this database/gedcom file.