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| St. Peter Church in Thorpe St. Peter where Mary was christened |
Mary Gilliat was the wife of Samuel Thornally Jr. and the
mother of nine or ten children. She was the daughter of John Gilliat and
Susanna Abraham. Mary was born in 1821 in Thorpe St. Peter, England and she was
christened there on September 8, 1821. She was one of eleven children and the
second daughter of John and Susanna. Mary’s older sister Henrietta was born in about
1817 and her older brother Abraham was born about a year later. Her younger
sisters were Betsy born about 1822, Ann 1824, Elizabeth, who was known as Eliza,
1829, Harriet 1832 and Susannah, presumably named after her mother, born in
1834. Mary also had three younger brothers Alfred 1824, William 1827 and John
1833. John Gilliat was a farmer so it is likely that Mary and her siblings
helped with the family farm as they were growing up.
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A portion of the 1841 census showing Mary on the second line and
her siblings Henrietta, Betsy, Alfred and Ann |
Mary’s family lived in Thorpe Hall in Thorpe Parish in
Spilsby, Lincolnshire which is about two miles from Wainfleet. She appeared on
the 1841 census for Thorpe St. Peter where she was listed with her siblings
including Henrietta – both were shown as being twenty years old. Most likely
this was a recording error on the part of the census taker. Their address was noted
as being in the East Fen Allotment. In 1872 Thorpe had a population of 649
residents and occupied 2880 acres of land of which a large portion was fens
(marshy areas). Thorpe was referred to as a scattered village and parish and
still had a Lord of the Manor at that time.
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This map shows the county of Lincolnshire and the
location of Thorpe St. Peter where Mary and Samuel
lived. |
When Mary was sixteen Victoria assumed the throne of
Great Britain when her uncle William died. Queen Victoria reigned for the
remainder of Mary’s life. It was a time of “significant social, economic and
technological change, which saw the expansion of Britain's industrial power and
of the British empire.”
When she was twenty-two Mary married Samuel Thornalley
Jr. and they established their home in Thorpe. Their first child, a daughter
Mary Ann was born on August 23, 1846. Next was Samuel 1847, Susanna Ellen 1848,
William Gilliat – my great grandfather who was born in 1850, Emma Marie 1851,
Hepzibeh 1853, Betsy 1855, John Henry 1857, and Eliza 1859. Some records list a
tenth child Kate born in 1864. So, Mary was pregnant for much of the time
between the ages of 24 and 43.
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This is the 1851 census showing Mary, now married to Samuel Thornally
and four of their children - Mary Ann, Samuel, Susanna Ellen and Gilliat,
my great grandfather. |
In 1851 when the census was taken Mary was living with
Samuel and their first four children. Ten years later they had moved to West
Ham and were living at 249 Culbert Road in Plaistow, England. In 1867 her
father died and the following year Mary’s husband Samuel died on January 27,
1868 when Mary was 47.
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| The 1861 census shows Samuel and Mary living at 249 Culbert Road in Plaistow, England |
The 1871 English censuses list a Mary Thornley as a patient at Islington West Trinity. In 1881 I found a widowed dressmaker living in Thorpe at No. 15 Quadrant Road in Pancras, London. Though the name was spelled
differently the age jibes with our Mary so it is possible that she supported
herself as a dressmaker after Samuel died. Mary’s mother died in 1878 and Mary
died a few years later at the age of 61 while living in Pancras. During Mary’s
lifetime, Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, slavery was abolished in
the British empire in 1838, a uniform one cent postage rate was established,
the world’s first municipal park opened in Birkenhead near Liverpool, and the
Crimean War began.
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| Two screen shots of Pancras from Google earth |
Sources for the Post: 1841-1881 English census, marriage and Christening records for Mary and her children, Sue Tucker's family tree.
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