Help me find Emma Dawson Flanagan's parents?

Question

Emma Dawson was born in England in about 1824 and married John Flanagan of Ireland.  They moved to the United States sometime before 1845 (first New York, then Rhode Island) and had four children there.  Her life in the U.S. is pretty well documented.  I'm trying to find out more about her family and life before she arrived in the U.S.  Her death record lists her mother as Mary Dawson, father as "Dawson," no first name.  I haven't found a marriage record yet; I don't know whether they married in the U.S., England, or Ireland, just that it would have been before their first child was born in NY in 1845.  According to a descendant, family lore is that she was a London socialite who was disowned by her family for marrying an Irishman.  I've done basic FamilySearch and Ancestry searches (too many Emma Dawsons!), plus Newspapers.com (in case it made the gossip columns) with no real luck.  I'm not very experienced with the English records of this era.  Any advice or assistance would be appreciated!

Answer 1

FreeReg has this

Value
County	Surrey
Place	Putney
Church name	St Mary
Register type	Transcript
Baptism date	08 May 1825
Person forename	Emma
Person sex	F
Father forename	William
Mother forename	Mary
Father surname	DAWSON
Person abode	Richmond
Father occupation	Bricklayer
Transcribed by	Charlotte Ryan
Credit	CER
File line number	1170

Comments

And

County	Derbyshire
Place	Chelmorton
Church name	St John
Register type	Unspecified
Baptism date	9 Jul 1826
Person forename	Emma
Person sex	F
Mother forename	Mary
Mother surname	DAWSON
Person abode	Chelmorton
Notes	Unmarried
Transcribed by	Trevor Moody
Credit	Trevor Moody
File line number	2509

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There were 12 results on FreeReg, but only these had mother named Mary.

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Thanks!  I hadn't seen that site, and it gives me some new things to explore.  Looks like I'm going to have to slog through and rule out all the Emma Dawsons who lived/married/died in England.  (Meanwhile, though, my husband's AncestryDNA results just came in, so everything else just got bumped to the back burner.  Squirrel!)

Answer 2

"...family lore is that she was a London socialite" -- Yes, because a London socialite would choose a life of grinding poverty with an Irish coachman ... for love. Outside Catherine Cookson novels this doesn't happen.

I've searched UK records for a suitable marriage and drawn a complete blank. FreeReg's coverage is very patchy and the lack of a suitable birth doesn't mean much.

I did find one glimmer of interest in the 1841 census. Unfortunately this census didn't contain very much information but I did find a John Flanagan and an Emma Dawson in the same district. Emma is a servant in the household of Lord Kilmaine. There are many Irish-born servants in the household and she could've known John through them.

"England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQJK-CHF : 22 May 2019), Emma Dawson in household of Kilmanie, Lord, St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey

John is literally round the corner. It's not clear to me what this residence was - possibly a lodging house. I subscribe to FindMyPast so can see the images but they don't add much. He's described as a S... M - possibly a stable man. There are a few others with the same designation on the page.

"England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQJZ-53V : 22 May 2019), John Flanagan in household of George Hikey, St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey

Comments

Nice find! Looking at the census image, I'm pretty sure the occupation is "Shoe M" (shoemaker)

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Nobility... working for nobility... it's all the same, right?    That's the info I was given, but I'm not putting any stock in it.  Like my supposed "Admiral Robertson of the British Royal Navy" on my maternal line, I'll believe it when I have actual documentation.

Thanks for those records!  They look very promising. I hadn't even thought to try to find John and Emma together in England; I was just looking for her and her parents.  The location (London) is consistent with with the family story, so that's something.  

I recently got a FindMyPast subscription through the NY Genealogical and Biographical Society so I can see the census image... I'm thinking John's occupation may be "Shoe M"?  Best I can come up with.  I see there are other Flanagans listed (Terese(?), Bridget, and two children) and I'll have to see if I can make any connections there.  My John has a sister Bridget, so that's interesting, though from the way they're listed here I would guess that this Bridget is married to Terese, and not a Flanagan herself.

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Yes it's probably 'Shoe M' but this was the era of cheap mass-produced goods so he could've just been working in a shoe factory. It doesn't imply a skilled craftsman having been apprenticed to a trade as it would in earlier times.

Given that "Terese" is definitely male from the occupation (Day Labourer), I think it's likely to be a mistake for Terence.

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Terence makes sense.  I was wondering if the T was actually a J; it looks a bit like the J's elsewhere on the page (but also like the T on the previous page).  But I can't come up with a J name that would fit the rest of it.

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Found a Terence Flanagan married to Bridget Barry in Co. Limerick in 1836; it's the only record I see that might match.  If that's the right couple (though there's no guarantee of that), this is a different family; mine are from Co. Westmeath.  (County baptisms don't go back far enough to find Terence's birth.)  https://rootsireland.ie/ifhf/view_detail.php?recordid=778160&type=mch&recordCentre=limerick&page=1