I have previously posted about my great grandmother, Hannah Sullivan McConville. She was born in Lambeth, Surrey, England in 1866 to Michael Sullivan and Mary Dunn. She is counted in the 1871 Census in Lambeth, and has a sister Mary Ann born in 1868, a brother Timothy born in 1870, and shortly after the census another brother, Michael is born in about 1872.
Thanks to my Aunt Florence, I learned that both parents passed away sometime between 1872 and the next census in 1881. Supposedly, Hannah and Mary Ann were sent to Brooklyn, NY to live with cousins George and Ellen Wharton to be nannies for their children. My problem is that I only find Hannah living with the Whartons in Brooklyn in the US Federal Census for 1880. So where are Mary Ann, and her two brothers.
Admittedly, I had only really searched for Mary Ann because Aunt Florence said she had married and died young - in 1894. Family legend has it that she married "poorly" and was buried in a potters field. That is until Hannah and her husband, Edward McConville, raised enough money to give her a proper burial in Holy Cross Cemetery, in Brooklyn. I could never find a burial for her there, because I don't know her married name.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to search for Timothy and Michael. It only took me about 20 years to come up with this plan of action, so here is what I found. I started with the 1881 England Census and I found a family in the municipal ward of Vauxhall, in the Borough of Lambeth. It is the family of Maurice O'Brien and his wife Catherine. Maurice is a blacksmith age 50 born in Ireland and Catherine is 47 and born in Ireland. They have three daughters, all born in Surrey: Mary A is 19 listed as an Ironer, Catherine is 16 with servant scratched out as occupation, and Johanna age 9 is a Scholar (in school). Next on the list of household members is Mary A Sullivan, age 13 listed as niece, and a scholar, and lastly is Michael, age 9 listed as nephew, and also a scholar. The ages fit, so if they are my Sullivans, that means that Catherine's maiden name is Sullivan or Dunn. The other issue is this: if Mary A and Michael are my Sullivans, where is Timothy? I may have the answer for that.
I started looking for Timothy in the 1881 England Census and came across a Timothy Sullivan, age 11, listed as "inmate" at St. Vincent's Home in Paddington, London. I was surprised to find him in St. Vincent's Home, so I Googled it. Turns out the name is St. Vincent's Home for Roman Catholic Boys and it was started in about 1859, and managed by some members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Quoting from the website: "The Home received Roman Catholic boys who were orphans and who were either destitute or in danger to their faith or morals." Initially the Home could accommodate 20 boys, but as demand grew this was increased to 30 and then a wing was added to bring the capacity to 40. The other question is if Mary Ann and Michael are with family, why is Timothy in a home for orphaned Catholic boys?
So, I think there is a good chance that these are my great grandmother's siblings, but I can't be absolutely certain at this point. I still have some work to do on this.
