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My great grandfather, Matthew Lanigan, born West Meath, Ireland in 1825, came to England, settling first in Beswick Row, Angel Meadow, Manchester, probably the most notorious slum in the Manchester/Lancashire area. By the time of the 1871 census, he was living in Barrow’s Court, Greengate, Salford, a slightly lesser slum, with his wife Mary (née Riley, b 1830, Wigan), and his five children, Joseph (1860), Mary Ann (1864), Marcella (1866), John (1869) and Matthias (1871). John is my grandfather.

The only family member to appear in the 1881 census is Joseph, lodging at the home of one William Cutlin (13 Ford St, Salford).

In the 1891 census, I have the two youngest children, John and Matthias lodging at an address in North George St, Salford, Joseph in Lloyd St, Salford with his wife, Isabella, two of her children (James Reynard [1877] and Ada Reynard [1879[, and his own children, Matthias (1887) and John (1890). Matthew, my great grandfather is listed as a visitor and is recorded as now being a widower.

So I have a gap from 1871 to 1891 when I cannot account for Matthew, Mary, John or Matthias. I did have information, which I have mislaid, that John and Matthias were listed in the 1881 census as residents of the Swinton Industrial School, but this doesn’t come up in the online census data; I shall need to go to the appropriate archive physically and sort that out. However, I have no information about Matthew and Mary at this time. I have presumed that something happened to the family to have the youngest boys admitted to a paupers’ home, possibly that Mary died. Again, though, a blank; I can find no death record for Mary.

I wonder whether Matthew and Mary returned to Matthew’s birthplace for some reason (West Meath, Ireland) and whether Mary died there.

Are there any Ireland based Lanigans who find any of this familiar and might be able to help me fill this gap?

1891 John and matthias ??????
Name: Matthias Lanigan
Age: 19
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1872
Relation: Boarder
Gender: Male
Where born: Salford, Lancashire, England

Civil Parish: Salford
Ecclesiastical parish: St Matthias
Town: Salford
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status:

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Registration District: Salford
Sub-registration District: Greengate
ED, institution, or vessel: 18
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 3217
Folio: 94
Page Number: 2
Household Members:
Name Age
Samuel Cocker 42
Hannah Cocker 38
Mary E Cocker 15
Hannah Cocker 11
Laura A Cocker 9
Samuel Cocker 8
Herbert Cocker 6
Lillie Cocker 4
Edith Cocker 1
John Lanigan 21
Matthias Lanigan 19

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He is with his brother John


1881 England Census

Name:Matthias Lannigan

Age:10

Estimated Birth Year:abt 1871

Relationship to Head:Inmate

Civil Parish:Worsley

County/Island:Lancashire

Street Address:The Industrial Schools Swinton Lancashire

Occupation:Scholar

Registration District:Barton Upon Irwell

Sub-registration District:Worsley

ED, institution, or vessel:The Industrial Schools


Piece:3879
Folio:104
Page Number:11

Rootsireland shows no deaths of a Mary Lanigan (or variant spelling ) in Co. Westmeath, 1881 +/- 10 yrs.

There's this, though the age is a bit out:

Deaths Mar 1874 (>99%)
LANAGAN Mary 36 Salford 8d 100

The address is 8 Pilgrim St, Manchester. Mathew is listed as a tailor



Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 (Cathedral)

Name:Joseph Lanigan

Age:27

Birth Year:abt 1859

Marriage Date:24 May 1886

Parish:Manchester, St Mary, St Denys and St George

Father's Name:Matthew Lanigan

Spouse's Name:Isabella Reynard

Spouse's Age:34

Spouse's Father's Name:William Smith

Archive Roll:744

Spelling of Lanigan/Lanagan/Lannigan varies a lot:

Marriages Sep 1858
Lanagan Matthew Manchester 8d 583
Riley Mary Manchester 8d 583

Im guessing that this is one of the daughters?



1881 England Census


Name:Mary A. Lanigan

Age:18

Estimated Birth Year:abt 1863

Relationship to Head:Lodger

Gender:Female

Where born:Manchester

Civil Parish:Manchester

County/Island:Lancashire

Street Address:62 Style St

Occupation:Hooker (C)

Registration District:Manchester

Sub-registration District:St George

ED, institution, or vessel:28
Piece:4005
Folio:24
Page Number:1

Name

John McDonough 19
Sarah McDonough 20
Thomas McDonough 12
Mary A. Lanigan 18

Thank you for all this information. Clearly 'include variants' is not as comprehensive as one might expect. Interestingly, I now find that I have ancestors on both sides of the family who married in Manchester Cathedral, though that is not as grand as it sounds, becuase it was also the parish church for the area.

I suspect the Mary Lanagan death is someone else, as it would shift the birth year by about 8 years, though could fit (eldest child born 1860), so I'll do some more probing on the birth information to check it out.

Anyone who can contribute to he Irish end, I'm interested, not to mention fustrated by the wholesale destruction of Irish Census records. :-)

I can't see any sign of Matthew's birth in Westmeath, on Rootsireland, but as you say, many records were destroyed.

There are these (searching 1825 +/- 5 yrs) though not in Co. Westmeath:

Church Baptism Lonigan Matthew 1824 Co. Waterford
Church baptism Lanigan Matthew 1822 Co. Waterford

This I imagine is Marcilla...1881

Name: Marsilla Lanigan
Age (Original): 15
Gender: Female
Birth Year: 1866
Birthplace: Manchester, Lancashire, England
Relationship to Head of Household: Scholar Inmate
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Scholar
Address: St Josephs Orphan & Certified Industrial School
Event Place: Chorlton Upon Medlock, Lancashire, England
Disability:
Record Type: Household
GS Film number: 1341937
Affiliate Publication Number: RG11
Piece/Folio: 3923 / 104
Page Number: 1

Possibly Matthew's death??

Deaths Dec 1893 (>99%)
Lanigan Matthew 71 Bury 8c 375

This could be the daughter?


1891 England Census

Name:Marcelline Lanigan

Age:23

Estimated Birth Year:abt 1868

Relation:Servant

Gender:Female

Where born:Manchester, Lancashire, England

Civil Parish:Withington

Ecclesiastical parish:St Edmund

County/Island:Lancashire
Registration District:Chorlton
Sub-registration District:Didsbury

ED, institution, or vessel:14
Piece:3163
Folio:71
Page Number:27

Household Members:

Henry M Whitefield 46
Mary Whitefield 45
Maud Whitefield 13
Marcelline Lanigan 23

This doesn't help find them in 1881, but wonder what happened to this child?

Baptism: 16 Aug 1868 St Joseph, Ancoats, Lancashire, England
Joannes Lannegan - Filius Matthei Lannegan & Mariae (formerly Riley)
Born: 7 Jun 1868
Godparents: Birgitta O'Brion
Baptised by: P. N. Stephan
Register: Baptisms 1865 - 1873, Page 195
Source: Original Register at LRO Preston

Added: I assume this is son John.

Thank you all for this wealth of information. I knew of marcella's later life - she went to India where she married, later returning to England and settling in Prestwich, which is close to Bury, so the 1893 death could be my Matthew.
I am intrigued by the baptism in Ancoats. My grandfather celebrated his birthday on 7th June, so clearly this is his baptism. However in 1934 he swore a statutory declaration of which I have a certified copy in which he stated that his birth had never been registered, that family custom led him to believe he was born in 1870 and indeed received a 21st birthday present from Marcella in 1891, but that he had recently realised this could not be the case as Matthias was born in December 1870. On this basis he was allowed to presume that his birth year was 1869. I must admit that that has puzzled me since I began this research as censuses generally record 1869 as his birth year, so why the mystery?
Whether the mary lanagan who died in 1874 is Matthew's wife, I don't know. I am now off to see if I can find a birth record for around 1838 that will help resolve that question. I'm also going on a death record hunt to see if any little Lanigans didn't make it much beyond birth, as M & M seem to have been producing more or less at two year intervals, so why no one in 1824, and if she was only 36 when she died, what about 1872 and 1874?
You've given me lots of information to work on. Thank you. :-D