This is starting to read just like one of those novels by William Trevor.
From what I can make out, following the death of Major Nathaniel his widow Jane first of all tried to let out their house at Westgate, Wexford. By January 1866 she was at 2 Fair St in Drogheda where she opened a music and singing academy. In March of the same year she advertised that she also taught drawing, French and English.
In March 1880 she gave instructions to sell at auction at "her residence called Musical Academy, Lucan" all her household furniture and other effects, including the piano. By March 1883 she was advertising that she had a school (Seaview, Warrenpoint, Newry) for day boys under the age of 10.
Her knowledge of French, drawing and music indicate that she must have had a good education herself. Whoever she was, she came from a well-off family.
Dave T: Someone (Julia Anne and/or Nathanial Q went to a lot of trouble and expense to transfer Florence Bertha from London to burial in Isle of Man,...
Florence Bertha died at Douglas:
Mona's Herald, Wednesday, May 15, 1929
DEATHS
MERCER – On May 10th, at Douglas, Florence Bertha Mercer, …
However there is no matching death registration.
Hmmm?
Dave
Edit She was a nurse. Sp presumably the London Hospital address was her ref address, not where she died. OH DEAR
My thanks to Terry and Heths for straightening me out.
Back to square one on who was the mother of Florence, though we can probably eliminate Margaretta.
Dave
My thanks to you all, you've found amazing pieces of information. I feel very inadequate. I am hoping to see my friend this week and she will be staggered with all the new details. I will of course have to admit it wasn't me!!
I hope you've all enjoyed this move away from Yorkshire!!:
One final possibility on the identity of JANE Vicary
Heather said in an earlier reply
"As they had a son called CHARLES NAPIER, I wondered if that was Jane’s maiden name. When I looked into it I found that Lieut. General Sir Charles Napier was the commanding officer who chose Nathaniel to explore the mineral structure of the province. He was quite old and died in 1853. It looks like the child was named after him as a token of respect or affection."
What about this from FMP:
Feb 19 1833 Baptism at St John Cathedral CALCUTTA: JANE NAPIER FLEMING b 28 Oct 1832, daughter of the late CHARLES Fleming, Planter? Esq and JANE, NAPIER, his wife.
A lot of coincidences there, and she would have been just 18 when Margaretta was born.
Dave
This may be a red herring, but I was wondering why Jane sold all her furniture and moved up to Sea View, Warrenpoint in 1880 and I found this:
Morning Post London, 1st July 1887
McAnally - On the 26th ult. at Sea View Warrenpoint, County Down, Jane relict of Acheson A. McAnally, surgeon 44th Regiment, Bengal N.I.
Pleas ignore my last message about the birth of Jane Napier Fleming in Calcutta in 1832. She was actually Jane Napier HUNTER, daughter of the late Charles FLEMING HUNTER and she died in Calcutta in 1839.
Time to give up
Dave
I had a quick look at Jane McAnally, the army widow who had died at the Sea View address in 1887. Her marriage to Acheson Archibald McAnally was only in 1849 and so she wouldn’t have been Jane Vicary’s mother. Acheson did have a previous wife and I found records for 3 of their children. I couldn’t link him to Jane Vicary though.