My Sullivans of London, England

My mom always said that both of her grandmothers were named Hannah Sullivan - one was Hannah and one was Johanna.  I never knew which was which, but it never seemed to matter back then.  That is until I started researching.  Now that I care, mom is no longer here to ask.

Anyway,  Johanna Sullivan was born in London, England 6 Sep 1866, to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn.  This is according to an old family tree that my mom's cousin had made quite a while ago, and this info was confirmed by Hannah's death certificate.  She was the oldest of four children, a sister Mary, and two brothers: Timothy and Michael.

According to my mom's cousin Florence Armstrong, Johanna's dad was a tailor to the Ladies of the Court at Buckingham Palace, and Johanna and her sister used to play on the Palace lawn.  She and her sister Mary were flower girls at the wedding of Lady Alice.  I had never heard this story until Aunt Florence told me, but I had never been able to confirm it either.  Maybe it's the Detective still in me, but if I can't confirm it, it doesn't get added to my tree.

Well, I was able to confirm a piece of it lately.  It happened mainly by mistake. I was checking on Hannah Sullivan McConville on my Ancestry app, when I noticed a shaky leaf on her brother Timothy, so I clicked on it.  This is what I saw:

This is an 1871 Census from the UK, it says:  Lambeth Parish, Ward of Princes, Parlamentary Borough of Lambeth, and over to the right is says Ecclesiatrical District St. Marys.  I don't know what all of that means, but I remember Aunt Florence saying that their church was St. Mary's, so it makes sense.   Now the first line says House # 51, but there is no street, but several pages before this is says Model Home 5 - I don't know what that means either.  But now we get to the good part:  Michael Sullivan, male age 30, occupation is Tailor (journeyman), born in Ireland, next: Mary Sullivan, female age 30, occupation is Tailoress, born in Ireland, next is Johanna, daughter, unmarried, age 4, next is Mary, daughter, age 3, and last is Timothy, son, age 1.  Actually, there may be one more.  Below them is listed Ann Hall, Visitor, female, widow, age 50, occupation Servant, born in Ireland.  I don't know if she belongs in their household or the next family.  I don't know who she is at this point anyway.  By the way, this record also says the three children were born in Surrey Lambeth.

This seems to confirm what Aunt Florence had told me about her being born in London ( I think this is close to London) and the whole Tailor part of it.  Not that I ever doubted Aunt Florence, but this was really a good find.  I think I never found it before because I always looked for Hannah, but this record says Johanna, and I found it because of her brother. No matter how I found it, now I have it.

This record doesn't mention Michael (her Brother) so I guess he wasn't born yet - after all, Timothy is only 1, and I don't see them in the 1861 Census - probably still in Ireland, or the 1881 Census - I guess the parents have died by then and the children may be in the US.

So I have a lot more research to do, but this was a big boost that let me know I am on the right track.