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On the marriage certificate of Margaret Kelly (age 23) to John Wilson Muir in Broxburn, West Lothian, Scotland, on 2 August 1923, the bride's parents are shown as Peter Kelly (general labourer) and Margaret Kelly nee Allison. Witnesses to the marriage were James Kelly, and Elizabeth B Kelly, both living in Broxburn but at different addresses. That is all the information I have about Peter and Margaret Kelly, who may have been born in Ireland. Its possible that Margaret junior may also have been born in Ireland. I have no information about siblings.

I have traced John Wilson Muir's parentage and further back, and have found John Wilson Muir and Margaret Muir nee Kelly between 1945 and 1960, living in Edinburgh.

Can any of you incredible detectives help me to find anything further about Peter Kelly, Margaret Allison, and their daughter Margaret before her marriage - I do know that she had a daughter Annie Kelly, born c1919 in Edinburgh, died 1999 in Hastings, East Sussex - she was accepted by John Muir as his daughter, and took his name.

Annie Kelly Muir married Douglas W Harrington in Edinburgh in 1944, and was living with her parents in the 1945 electoral roll.

They were Roman Catholic.

Jan

Have you looked for these people on Censuses in Scotland or Ireland?

Have you looked at Scotland's People?

Were the parents still alive at the time of the marriage please?

Can you give Margaret's address and the addresses of the witnesses please?

Can't see a death in Hastings for the daughter - please post the record

When did Margaret Muir die?

Anne - not Annie - on the marriage

MUIR
ANNE KELLY
HARRINGTON
DOUGLAS W
1944
685/1 655
Haymarket

Presumably, this is what you think is the daughter's birth?

KELLY
ANNIE
F
1919
685/4 1005
St Giles

No second name on her birth reg - and she used Kelly as a second forename when she married

Margaret's address on Marriage was 70 Holigate, Broxburn, (Mother deceased):

On the 1925 & 1930 valuation roll:

KELLY PETER (Labourer)
Tenant Occupier
HOUSE 70 HOLYGATE BROXBURN
UPHALL

Thanks AustinQ. That's as I suspected. I think her father Peter remarried.



KELLY
PETER
SCULLION
ANNIE
1916
672/ 47
Uphall

Not seeing a marriage for a Peter Kelly to a Margaret Allison in Ireland but if her Mum died young she may have the wrong name for her.

I've just looked at the death certificate for that Peter (1946 Broxburn).

He was an oilworks labourer aged 80 years.
Address: Cardross Road
Informant: P Kelly (son) of 29 Albert Street, Edinburgh
1st married: Mary Carr
2nd married Annie Scullion

- No Margaret Allison mentioned

That informant would seem to be a son of the second marriage born c1918 so we can't be sure that he had the correct name for his father's first wife either.

Wow, such an amazing response, you truly are wonderful people.

I have looked on BMD and census returns on Scotland's People (don't have a subscription there though), Irish Genealogy, Ancestry, and FreeBMD.

Ann(i)e Kelly born c1919 married Douglas Harrington, still waiting for that marriage certificate. Her mother married John Wilson Muir in 1923, and she took his name as hers, becoming Ann(i)e Kelly Muir. She is shown in the 1945 Edinburgh electoral roll as living at 36 Royston Mains Crescent; at the same address are John Muir and Margaret R Muir (no idea what the R stands for, or even if its correct - later there is a Margaret K Muir, which might be the wife, or their daughter). John and Margaret Muir are still at that address in 1960.

The marriage certificate for John Wilson Muir and Margaret Kelly in 1923, Broxburn, shows Margaret's parents as Peter Kelly and Margaret, nee Allison (deceased). The bride's address was 70 Haligate, Broxburn, the groom's was 71 Haligate, Broxburn. Witnesses: James Kelly, Clifton Buildings, Broxburn, and Elizabeth B Kelly, 28 Shrine Place, Broxburn. I believe Haligate was renamed to Holygate.

I understand about the possible discrepancy on names - Annie Kelly Muir Harrington's death certificate is in the name of Anne Mary Harrington.

I'll now take a longer, harder look at all the information you've found for me, and see if I can get any further along from there.

Many thanks, and if you find anything else about this family I'd be very grateful for updates.

Jan

Looking again (and again) at what I've gathered so far - I can't find a definite birth record for Margaret Kelly who married John Wilson Muir, nor her death. As she was shown as 23 in 1923, I've put her birth as c1900, but we all know how many porkies were told on certificates.

Thank you Austin Q for the information about Peter Kelly, I hadn't been able to find that. Might I ask where you got it from? Is there any way of searching specifically for people living in Broxburn?

So all I know about Margaret's mother is that she died before 1923, which isn't much help.

Jan

You persist in saying Annie was born c1919, yet the registration of the death you say is hers shows her birth to have been 1918

The death info has been removed this thread, so here it is again

Name: Anne Mary Harrington
Death Age: 81
Birth Date: 3 Sep 1918
Registration Date: Oct 1999
Registration district: Hastings and Rother
Inferred County: East Sussex
Register Number: C68A
District and Subdistrict: 4561C

Do you have a copy of the cert? It should show where the woman was born and her maiden surname

Also, the informant's details could be useful

These are from SP - FREE search - for deaths of Margaret Kelly with 'other name' Allison

KELLY
MARGARET
69
1873
899/ 100
Stranraer
View image (6 credits)
KELLY
MARGARET
73
1874
564/3 423
Greenock Old or West
View image (6 credits)
KELLY
MARGARET
72
1926
644/5 199
Garngadhill
View image (6 credits)


Obviously the first two are irrelevant

Garngadhill is in Glasgow

I think her mother, Margaret Muir Nee Kelly died in 1971 aged 69 in Newington. Too recent to download the certificate as it's less than 50 years ago. You would need to order it.

This is the record referred to above, and is obtained using the 'other name' Kelly

MUIR
MARGARET
69
1971
685/6 14
Newington

Unfortunately, too early to also include MMN as one of the search criteria

I am doing this research for my neighbour, who was Annie Kelly Muir Harrington's daughter. She registered the death, unknowingly using the wrong name - birth date of 3 September is right, but she wasn't sure of the year. My neighbour, Anne, knew virtually nothing at all about her mother's past, and so I am trying to help her. She remembers that her mother lived in the Edinburgh area until she married and moved south, and that her mother's mother lived for a time with a grandmother in Broxburn. She thought there was an Irish connection.

She knew her mother had a number of siblings, so far I have found references in the electoral rolls to Elizabeth, Margaret, James, Joseph, John and Dennis - all names she remembered.

I have bought some credits for Scotland's People, which is how I got the information from the John Wilson Muir/Margaret Kelly marriage certificate: I'm not sure what is the best record to look at next, as I don't want to use the credits unnecessarily if I can avoid it.

I have found the Annie Scullion marriage record, but can't find anything for Mary Carr. She seems to be as illusive as Margaret Allison.

I don't think any records for Glasgow can be correct, but thanks for looking. I'll have a look at the 1971 Newington reference.

Many thanks once again,

Jan

The house at 71 Holygate, Broxburn, was owned by Broxburn Oil Company, which ties in with the occupation of Oil Works Labourer (Retired) on his death certificate.