Service

One might expect this week's writing prompt of "service" would result in a post about an ancestor who served in the military.  But, for some reason, my immediate reaction was to blog about my maternal ancestor Elizabeth (Gallagher) Lynch who was "in service" in metropolitan London in the early 1840s.

Elizabeth was born about 1815 to James and Mary Gallagher of County Mayo, Ireland.  Her parents were "spalpeens," poor laborers who migrated throughout Britain in search of employment.  The family were attracted to Westminster, England, by the 1820s, and lived in the cramped housing offered on Adam and Eve Court (between Oxford Street and Eastcastle.)

On 3 February1839, Elizabeth married another poor Irish laborer named Michael Lynch at the old Trinity Church in Marylebone.  (Sadly, the church fell into disuse a century later, and is now operated as a secular "events venue.")  Soon after the nuptials, though, Michael left Elizabeth to go to New York, promising to send for her and their infant daughter Mary Ann as soon as he could save enough money to pay for their passage.

Until she could follow her husband to the United States, Elizabeth had to find some income to feed both herself and the child.  So, she left the baby with her parents on Adam and Eve Court, and took a position "in service to" Lady Maria King, widow of Vice Admiral Sir Richard King, Baronet.

According to the 1841 British census enumeration, Lady Maria lived at fashionable Park Crescent with her three daughters Maria, Fanny, and Elizabeth.  Her sons were either away at boarding school or serving in the Royal Navy.  They were supported by a staff of six domestic servants.  William Isaacs was the butler, supported by footman William Moffatt.  Besides Elizabeth, there were three other female servants: Harriet Ruban, Mary Wickham, and Eliza Barber; but, it is unclear what their particular roles were in the household.

I like to imagine Elizabeth in charge of the youngest King daughter Elizabeth, taking her to play in the private park fronting the crescent.  Perhaps they utilized the pedestrian tunnel under busy Marylebone Road to access the larger Park Square, or Regent's Park to the north.  But, it is more likely that her "service" experience was more drudgery.

Either way, Elizabeth was reunited with her husband Michael just a few years later.  Their second daughter Margaret was born in Brooklyn in 1844.  Two more children quickly followed: James in 1847, and my great great grandmother Elizabeth in 1850.

Unfortunately, Michael drowned in a tragic accident, leaving the family destitute.  But, that story has already been told in a prior post.  (See "Disaster.")

My bucket list includes a commitment to visit Elizabeth's old neighborhood, to walk through Adam and Eve Court; see Trinity Church and nearby Park Crescent; and meander through Regent's Park.  One day . . . 

#52Ancestors