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Joseph Mortimer
1820-1875
Origins
We know very little about Joseph Mortimer, particularly about his origins.
The Mortimers may have originated in Yorkshire. There is certainly some circumstantial evidence of a Yorkshire connection.
In my Granny's photos I found a picture of a monument erected to Corporal Thomas Mortimer who was serving with the British Army in India. He was in the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment and died in Ranikhet in 1892 while attempting to save a fellow soldier from drowning. There is also a studio photo of Thomas himself taken in Ranikhet.
These photos would not have been circulated generally and would normally be found only in the possession of family or close friends. So far I have not traced Corporal Thomas and do not know the degree of relationship with Joseph. As far as family names are concerned, Joseph's father's name was Thomas and Joseph named his first surviving son William Thomas.
Birth and Marriage
My earliest contact with Joseph is his marriage in 1861 to Mary Anne Conneely. He was around 41 and she was about 17.
He was a carpenter living in Glasnevin at that time and she worked and lived in Ellen Berry's milliner's shop in Parnell St. in Dublin.
Their church wedding entry in the register in the Pro Cathedral (her parish) shows that they had a dispensation from the Archbishop. It is not clear what this is for but it could have related to parental consent on her side. She would have needed this as she was not of full age (21) and it might not have been forthcoming if the parents either objected or were dead. On the other hand I have not established whether Joseph was Catholic or Protestant and the dispensation might have related to a mixed marriage.
The names and address of his parents are given in the register but, unfortunately, the address is not now legible. I had figured it for "Collon Louth" but couldn't find any trace of them in the (RC) church records for this parish. Now, thanks to the miracle of digitisation, digital search and the internet, I think I have Thomas tracked down, via the LDS and Griffith's valuation, to the townland of Creewood, in the Parish of Grangegeeth, near Collon, but just on the Meath side of that county's border with Louth. This has opened up a whole new, and exciting, line of enquiry which will make it even less likely that this opus will be completed this side of the grave.
Children
Joseph and Mary Anne had a difficult first year of marriage. They were married on 31 January 1861 and Mary Anne must have become pregnant very soon afterwards as by 21 November they had a newborn who died and for whom they opened a new grave in the Garden section of Prospect Cemetery in Glasnevin.
They had a daughter, Ellen in (I think) 1863. She didn't marry and lived with her mother and unmarried brother, William, until the death of both of these in 1900 and 1902 respectively. (see below) She died in 1928, and her death notice says her death was deeply regretted by her relatives and a wide circle of friends, but, unfortunately, doesn't name any of them.
They had a son William in 1865 but he died, of infantile cholera, aged 14 months.
In 1870 they had twins, Patrick and William, my grandfather and his brother.
In 1873 they had another son, John, who died, from inflammation caused by teething, aged 15 months.
Death
Joseph died of acute peritonitis in 1875 .
Glasnevin
His widow, Mary Anne, lived for another 26 years. She appears to have stayed on in Glasnevin until 1880 or shortly after and appears in Dunville Tce. in Rathmines just before her death. I don't know where she was in the intervening period.
In Glasnevin, between1866 and 1880, they lived in Ivy Cottage, a substantial slate roofed single story house, opposite Church Lane, near where Enterprise Ireland is now located. The cottage itself was gone by 1900. The Enterprise Ireland site had become Glasnevin House after the original building, on the other side of the Finglas Rd., had been given to the nuns by the Lindsay family. Claremont, at that time a school for the deaf, was also located closeby. I don't yet know if Joseph had any connection with either of these big houses.
I don't even know if Joseph had been previously married or had earlier family. His marriage to Mary Anne predates the civil indexes which would have contained this information and it is not recorded in the church register.
Sadly, but not untypically, the family grave in Prospect Cemetery is unmarked.
Outstanding Questions
- Where did Joseph come from
- What is his relation to Corporal Thomas Mortimer from Yorkshire
- Was he Catholic or Protestant
- Who were his customers (Glasnevin House, Claremont]
- Where did Mary Anne and the two boys live after 1884
- Had Joseph been married previously & did he have other family