Can anyone please help with finding out who lived at 12 Sidney Street Sheffield in 1871, I am looking for Andrew Davies and daughter Mary Jane Davies, can't find either before she married my grandfather in 1887but I believe she lived at this address and her father was a taxi driver

Thanks Janet

Outside your target time, but ...
Sheffield Daily Telegraph
Thursday, June 27, 1878
Deaths
Robinson.—June 25, at the residence of his brother, of Hangingwater, John Robinson, 12, Sidney-street, aged 59.

Sheffield Independent
Wednesday, Aug. 20, 1884
Deaths
Robinson — August 19th, at 12, Sidney street, Eleanor, eldest daughter of the late John Robinson, aged 26 years.

There is a John Robinson at Sidney Street in the 1871 census, but no house number given. 51, cow keeper born Stydd., Derbyshire. Wife Eleanor and 4 sons 2 daughters.

Thank you for your help Terry, I don’t think I will ever find out what I’m looking for, it was just a guess that it could have been 1871 that they lived there

Thanks for your prompt reply
Janet

Putting the 3 marriages below together with Terry's info it looks like the Robinson family was at 12 Sidney Street from 1871 to 1890.
Presumably they took in at least one lodger and perhaps Mary Jane was a servant.

DAVIES, Mary Jane (Spinster, age 22, ~, residing at 12 Sidney Street).
Married Joseph WARRINGTON, on May 22, 1887, by J.Maurice Ham (Banns) at
St Simon, Sheffield Centre. Father's name is Andrew Davies (Cab Driver).
Married in the presence of Francis William Warrington, Annie Elizabeth Quinlan

BRADSHAW, Fred (Bachelor, age 28, Table Blade Grinder, residing at 12 Sidney Street).
Married Alice BARRACLOUGH, on November 10, 1888, by J Maurice Ham (Banns) at
St Simon, Sheffield Centre. Father's name is George Bradshaw, deceased (Table Blade Grinder).
Married in the presence of Albert Guest, Eliza Guest (mark).

ROBINSON, Mary Elizabeth (Spinster, age 23, ~, residing at 12 Sidney St).
Married James Shaw OWEN, on April 9, 1890, by Alfred Wood (Banns) at
Sheffield Parish Church, Church Street, Sheffield. Father's name is John Robinson,deceased (Cow Keeper).
Married in the presence of John Robinson,Annie Brownhill.
Dave

Hello Dave

Thank you so much for your help, I did find Mary as a servant when she was 17 but with a different family, I can’t find anything about her family, maybe her father is from Wales with a name like Davies and was still living there

Thanks again Dave
Janet

Janet
Your Mary Jane is a real mystery.
She died (as Mary Jane Warrington age 33) in 1896 and her burial is shown in our burial records over to the left. In the same grave are her husband, his second wife and 2 seemingly unrelated babies, which is strange. One, Peter Hanson died in 1892 and the other, John Whyman, in 1898.They may be worthy of investigation.
As for Mary Jane, all we have is her 1887 marriage (age 22), where she says her father was Andrew, cab driver, and the 1891 census where it says born Sheffield and age 26.
In South Yorkshire in 1865+-1 there is only Mary Jane Davis, born Illegit in Barnsley 1865. I cannot find any more about her.
In the whole of England and Wales censuses for 1871 and 1881 there is only one Andrew Davies with daughter Mary of the right sort of age, and he is a Miller in Wales.
Also there is no birth for a Mary Jane with father Andrew recorded in Scotland in the right time period.

I wonder if she was illegitimate and the father name is an invention.
Unsurprisingly there are many illegitimate Mary Jane Davies born around 1865, particularly in and close to Wales.
Dave

Hi Dave

Yes Mary is a real mystery but at least you have found some information thank you, I thought I had found her as a servant when she was 17 but looking through the census there are quite a few with the same name, different parts of the country around same birth year so don’t think that was correct, thanks again Dave for the information that you found about Sidney Street, you are a good detective I think she may have been illegitimate, she was my grandfathers first wife, also the spelling ofDavies could have been changed to Davis in some cases as often happened

Thanks again Dave
Janet

In the 1871 census Ancestry has 21 Mary Jane Davies in England. None with Andrew as father in the household. 18 are indexed as daughters of the head of the household. This leaves us with 3 with other relationships to the head. These are:

Name Mary Jane Davis
Birth 1864 Liverpool
Residence 1871 Lancashire, England
Relationship blank. In household of Margaret Davies (wife). Youngest of 3 daughters. Head not recorded.

Name Mary Jane Davis
Birth 1865 Madeley, Shropshire, England
Residence 1871 Shropshire, England
Stepdaughter in household of Benjamin & Caroline Legge.

Name Mary Jane Davies
Birth 1865 N
Residence 1871 Lancashire, England
West Derby Union Workhouse at Walton on the Hill, Lancashire. Inmate, birthplace unknown.
The record is in roughly alphabetical order with staff & inmates mixed. There are 4 Davies all of unknown birthplace. Edwd 13, Robt 7, Mary Jane 6 and Goodman Davies 5.
There are birth registrations for Mary Jane (M 1864) and Goodman Davies M 1866; mother’s maiden name Hesketh, Liverpool and West Derby & Toxteth Park registrations respectively.

May be a school of red herrings, but consider whether they deserve further consideration as possibilities.

I should have included: born 1865 +/- 1 year. Based on the age 22 when married.

Just an idea but could Andrew be in fact a middle name but that is how he was known?

I took a look at the marriage witness Annie Elizabeth Quinlan. In the 1881 census, just a few doors away from her (click forward to the next page) there’s a family called Davies. This could be a red herring but might be worth a quick shufty.

Heths

Thank you Terry, the one in the workhouse sounds interesting, I would be surprised if Mary was born in Sheffield and if her fathers name was Andrew, she probably never knew her father, I will have a look at the workhouse one
At least between your information and Dave’s about Sidney Street we have some clues

Thanks Janet

That is quite possible John as I have a friend who I’ve always known as Maureen but her first name is Elizabeth
Thanks Janet

That’s interesting Heather, thank you I will look at that
Janet

Janet,
A long shot which could link to the Walton on the Hill family:
Deaths Sep 1866
Davies Andrew 50 Liverpool 8b 270

Was he a cab driver?
It may be worth buying the death cert PDF for £7

Dave

It looks like the Workhouse family in 1871 were orphans. Their parents were Robert Davies and Jane (nee Hesketh), both of whom seem to have died in Liverpool (Robert 1868) and Jane (several possible deaths in late 1860s)
So those children will not have memories of their parent, and may not have been told their names.
Dave

Hi Janet et al,
This one is completely off the wall but I will toss it into the ring.
from the 1861 Census WHITECHAPEL MIDDLESEX

ANDREW DAVIS 16 (abt.1845 Whitechapel.Middsx.) CAR MAN
JOHN DAVIS 40 (..1821 Brighton,Susses) CAR MAN
HELEN DAVIS 38 (..1823? Islington,Middx.) WIFE
JOHN DAVIS 14 (1847 Whitechapel
MARY DAVIS 11 (1850 " "
ELLEN DAVIS 8 (1853 " "
GEORGE DAVIS 6 (1855 " "
SUSANNAH DAVIS 3 (1858 " "

I cannot trace this family any further than the above

HAPPY HUNTING:sleuth_or_spy:

Starting with a distinctive name with one of the West Derby kids:
FamilySearch.org
Name Goodman Davies
Sex Male
Christening Date 1 Jan 1866
Christening Place St Peter and St Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Christening Place (Original) St. Peter's, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Robert Davies
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Jane
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Christening

And Mary Jane with same parents names:
Name Mary Jane Davies
Sex Female
Christening Date 20 Jun 1864
Christening Place St Peter and St Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Christening Place (Original) St. Peters, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Robert Davies
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Jane
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Christening

and
Name Robert Davies
Sex Male
Christening Date 20 Mar 1862
Christening Place St Peter and St Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Christening Place (Original) St. Peter's, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Robert Davies
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Jane
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Christening
There is an identical record for 31 March 1862.

And then there is:
Name Edward Davis
Sex Male
Christening Date 11 Sep 1860
Christening Place St Martin in the Fields, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Christening Place (Original) St. Martin-In-The-Fields, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Father's Name Robert Davis
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Jane Davis
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Christening

Some of the birth years are a bit dodgy compared with the orphans in the census. Something to put in the reference kit for Mary Jane.

The baptismal record for Goodman Davies is at Ancestry (2 records). Say father is a boilermaker of Great Homer street. Born 25 September 1865.

Thank you everyone for your help regarding Mary Jane Davies, I am working my way through all of your information

Thanks again
Janet