Who Do You Think You Are - Melanie Chisholm 29th Aug

[kiterunner]

AKA Mel C. On BBC1 at 9 p.m. and repeated next Wednesday night / Thursday morning at 00:10.

[kiterunner]

Episode summary:

Melanie Chisholm, also known as "Mel C" or "Sporty Spice", was born in 1974 and grew up in Widnes. Her parents Alan Chisholm and Joan nee Tuffley divorced when she was very young and both remarried. Melanie now lives in London with her teenage daughter. She invited her paternal half-sister Emma to her house to look through old family photos, including one of the wedding of their grandparents William Chisholm and Catherine ("Kay") nee Bilsborough. Alan's cousin had sent him a photo of Kay's mother, Mary Bilsborough, wife of Thomas Bilsborough.

Melanie went to the Museum of Liverpool where she met an historian who showed her Mary's family on the 1911 census living in "court housing" off Scotland Road - head of household Patrick Flaherty, a dock labourer, and his three daughters, Margaret Flaherty, Mary Nunnery (age 23, married), and Catherine Bennett (also married). The three daughters all worked as fish hawkers. Mary's marriage certificate showed that she had married 20-year-old Joseph Nunnery in 1908. Melanie was then shown a court-martial index also from 1908, which showed that Joseph was tried for desertion from the army a few weeks after the marriage, and was sentenced to 84 days imprisonment. Army records showed that in 1909 he was in Kirachi with his regiment. Melanie was then shown three birth certificates - for Susannah Bilsborough Nunnery born in 1914, Mary Bilsborough Nunnery born in 1915, and John Bilsborough Nunnery born in 1917. None of the certificates gave the father's name but the mother was Mary Nunnery and a note added in the margin of one of them said "parents now married". Joseph's burial record showed that he died in 1918 from pneumonia, and the historian explained that Thomas and Mary married after that and went on to have six more children.

The 1939 Register showed Mary's occupation as money lender and 16-year-old Catherine's as cloth sorter. Melanie went to Liverpool Central Library and met a local historian who told her that cloth sorting was a very nasty, poorly-paid job, and that money lenders at that time charged a very high rate of interest, about 400%. A report about Liverpool moneylenders from the time of the 1927 parliamentary Moneylenders Bill said that there were a lot of them and that most were women, that "many of them act as terrible bullies" and that they often threatened to tell their clients' husbands about them borrowing money. The 1927 law required moneylenders to be licenced. Melanie looked at the Register of Moneylenders and found that Mary was listed with date of registration 6 Jul 1939. The probate index showed that she died on the 13th Oct 1973, with an estate worth £3,028.

Melanie then met a genealogist who had researched Mary's tree further back. The tree showed that Patrick Flaherty was born in Liverpool and that his father, also Patrick Flaherty, and mother Catherine nee Byrnes, were both born in Ireland. Their birth and marriage records had not been found, but there was a baptism record, written in Latin, for Maria Flaherty, their daughter, baptised at Croom, County Limerick. Melanie went to Ireland, to St Mary's Catholic Church in Croom, and met a local historian who showed her the tenure book for Carhue, which listed Patrick Flaherty was renting a farm with 10 acres of land from Rev Trench. The great famine began in 1845, and a newspaper advert from 1847 showed that Rev Trench had put his land in Carhue up for sale. An 1848 baptism record for another of Patrick and Catherine's children, Margaret Flaherty, showed that they were then living in the parish of St Michael's, Limerick City, so Melanie went there and met a famine historian, who showed her the baptism record of another child, John Flaherty, and the Liverpool birth and death certificates of Edmund Flaherty, who died from bronchitis at the age of 8 months. Then there was the baptism record of Patrick jr from 1861.

Melanie then turned to Joan's side of her tree, meeting another genealogist who had done Joan's family tree, which went back as far as Melanie's 4xg-grandfather Thomas Daniel Keef born in Plymouth in 1818. Melanie was shown his application for a place at Greenwich Hospital School in 1828 which gave his residence as "workhouse" but she was told that he didn't get in to the school. On the 1851 census, Thomas Keef was a baker, living with his wife Rebecca nee Widgery and three children. An advert in the Western Daily Press from Oct 1858 mentioned Mr Thomas Keef as manager of the Bristol branch of the London & Provincial Insurance Company.

Melanie went to Bristol and met an insurance historian who showed her a police court report in the Bristol Daily Post dated Jul 1860 which said that Mr Keef was charged with embezzlement of £2 11s. Then a Western Daily Press report dated Jul 1863 said that he had sued the insurance company and they had agreed to pay him £100 plus costs and to apologise to him and withdraw all charges against him, and that he was now working for the United Kingdom Insurance Company in Liverpool. Melanie went back to Liverpool and met an historian who showed her a report in the Liverpool Mercury about a meeting held outside St George's Hall in support of the Permissive Prohibitory Liquor Bill, which was chaired by Mr T D O'Keefe. The bill wasn't passed, but there was also a report of a Liverpool Reform League meeting held in 1866, with a resolution proposed by Mr T D O'Keefe, and in 1867 the Second Reform Act was passed, giving all adult male householders the vote.

[Olde Crone]

I enjoyed this one!

OC

[kiterunner]

Surely the Flaherty daughter named "Maria" in the Latin baptism record was really a Mary? Or had they found other records where she was Maria? Also I would like to know how they knew that Mary Bilsborough was a self-made woman rather than inheriting money or a business from her husband?

[kiterunner]

Okay, here is the 1921 census entry for the Bilsboroughs, with Thomas as a dock labourer:
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...06%2F0467%2F01

They have four children, plus boarders living with them.

There is a likely death for Thomas in 1946 and no probate entry, so I suppose Mary was indeed a self-made woman.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thomas Keef was RC. His father was also Thomas and his mother Mary.
Birth date 23 Jan 1818
Baptism date 08 Feb 1818 at Plymouth

Thomas Keef didn't change his name when he arrived at Liverpool. He had already started using O'Keef when he lived in Devon, as early as 1851.

His first wife was Rebecca Widgery. They married at Crediton on 24th March 1844. Her parents were Josiah and Jane and are with them on the 1851 Census.

Thomas and Rebecca's children:
KEEF, REBECCA WIDGERY
GRO Reference: 1845 M Quarter in EAST STONEHOUSE Volume 09 Page 380

KEEF, MARY JANE WIDGERY
GRO Reference: 1846 D Quarter in EAST STONEHOUSE Volume 09 Page 341
KEEF, ELIZABETH WIDGERY
GRO Reference: 1848 D Quarter in EAST STONEHOUSE Volume 09 Page 314

O'KEEF, THOMAS DANIEL WIDGERY
GRO Reference: 1851 J Quarter in EAST STONEHOUSE Volume 09 Page 374

Only Thomas Daniel was registered as O'Keef.

Rebecca died in Q1 1853.
Thomas remarried in Q3 the same year to Mary Ann Ashton.

He had started using the second name of Daniel.

[Ann from Sussex]

Melanie was shown his application for a place at Greenwich Hospital School in 1828 which gave his residence as "workhouse" but she was told that he didn't get in to the school.

I took this to mean that his father had served in the Royal Navy. I wonder why that wasn't mentioned, if only in passing? That is a detail I would want to know about an ancestor and would have asked questions about! I wonder why his application was refused.

[kiterunner]

Originally Posted by Ann from Sussex

Melanie was shown his application for a place at Greenwich Hospital School in 1828 which gave his residence as "workhouse" but she was told that he didn't get in to the school.

I took this to mean that his father had served in the Royal Navy. I wonder why that wasn't mentioned, if only in passing? That is a detail I would want to know about an ancestor and would have asked questions about! I wonder why his application was refused.

Yes, I thought the same.

[ElizabethHerts]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

Yes, I thought the same.

His father was a shopkeeper according to his marriage certificate in 1844.

[ElizabethHerts]

Thomas Keef married Mary Cock on 3rd December 1798 at St Andrew, Plymouth.

It states "Thomas Keef of the Marines" ...
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...2F35041781%2F1