Ellen Malley (or Melia) : Short Biography

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My O'MALLEYs migrated to Liverpool from Oughaval as well, likely around the same time.  Peter O'MALLEY married Mary MALEY  there 01 Jul 1825, witnesses Michael and Catherine MALLEY.  I know of three children for sure, Mary (1826), Margaret (1829), THOMAS (1930) ... my 3X-Grandfather ..., (Bridget 1835) all born in Westport.  Peter and the girls are found in Liverpool and married there but Thomas emigrated to the States and married Anna Brown of Ballynahaglish, Mayo in 1853 in Butler Co, OH. Eventually Mary and Bridget settled with their children in the Louisville, KY / Jeffersonville, IN area along with Thomas and his family.

Mary their mother is not found in England and likely died before they relocated but I find no record for her.  As every other person in that area seems to be named O'MALLEY or some facsimile thereof tracing our ancestors is tough.  Your Ellen MIGHT be related to my bunch so I thought I would post what I have here. In which Liverpool parish are your MELIAs found?

 

 

famtracer

Thursday 10th September 2020 06:07PM

Famtracer,

Thank you for reaching out — sorry it’s taken me so long to see your post and reply. I don’t visit this page often enough…

Your ancestors, Peter & Mary O’Malley and their children are just a few years earlier than my gr gr grandmother Ellen (she married in 1859), but they might have been her uncle or cousins, somehow — being that she and they were from the same parish.

I don’t know for sure, but think Ellen probably used the name Malley or O’Malley, and the older Melia mainly shows up on the Catholic records due to priests attempting to translate Malley into Latin. It’s Malley on her Parish Registers doc. If I had any civil records for Ellen they might clarify this. And if in fact she used Melia when she lived in Mayo, it might make it easier to narrow down her relatives.

Yes, so many O’Malleys around Westport really clouds the research. The only Irish records I have for Ellen and husband James Rusk are their marriage documents and the baptismal record of their first child, both of which place them in Aughaval Parish. Soon after that child’s birth, they emigrated to England, around 1862.

Seems likely that they already had some family in Liverpool who had moved there before them — either (O’)Malleys or Rusks, or both.

To your question: Their parish in Liverpool was St. Alban’s Catholic. It was in the same general neighborhood as they lived, near the river and docks. I assume James worked in the shipyards. (On a modern map, the Vauxhall area.) It appears they lived on Milford St., Houlgrave St. (now Rd.), and Beacon St. (which no longer exists). St. Alban’s still stands on Athol St., but is no longer used as a church.

I wonder if any of this lines up with your O’Malleys in Liverpool?

Most of the Liverpool records I have for Ellen and James Rusk are from the baptisms of their children at St. Alban’s. I also have several years (1870s) of Liverpool Electoral Registers for James, plus what I think are his death and burial records (Ford Cemetery). Nothing for Ellen.

One of their daughters was my gr grandmother, Helena Rusk, who came to America alone at age 14 to live with her paternal aunt in Newark, NJ. Helena later married and raised her family of 10 kids in Somers Point on the south New Jersey shore.

Thanks again for your message. Let me know if you see (or suspect) any family connection.

Best,

Michael

Michael F.

Saturday 20th March 2021 08:00AM