Mulvey of Lancaster, Formby and Liverpool

Jack and Alexander are linked to the Mulveys via their paternal grandmother, RITA MARGARET UNWIN (1917-2000), her father George Laurence Unwin (1891-1975), and his mother Rebecca Hannah Mulvey (1866-1954).

Mulvey is an Irish name. We cannot trace the family back to Ireland with certainty, but believe we are descended from a Michll Mulvey, Irishman. The Lancashire Marriage Bonds record that, on 31 Oct 1737, Michael Mulvey, bachelor, married Margaret Roach, both of Cunsey, parish of Hawkshead. The couple had at least two children with the baptisms on 14 Jun 1738, St Michael and All Angels, Hawkshead, of "James Mulvey - Child of Michll Mulvey,  Notes: an Irishman" and on 12 Feb 1740 St Michael and All Angels, Hawkshead, Danll Mulvey - Child of Michll Mulvey,  Notes: Irishman".

We have a range of other Mulvey records.

It appears the boys' 4x gt grandfather, William Mulvey, was born in Lancaster but moved to Liverpool early in his life, possibly with his family. This may account for a possible link with the boatbuilding firm Mulvey and Evans, which worked at Frodsham on the Mersey, then Chester and Liverpool. The Mulvey and Evans partnership was dissolved in 1820.

GENERATION SEVEN

(Not confirmed) JOHN MULVEY married MARGARET SWINDLEHURST at St Mary's, Lancaster , Lancashire, on June 27, 1803. It is possible that John had served in the Army. In 1802, a John Mulvey (birthdate unknown, but aged 40) was discharged from the 17th Dragoons (Light) after 10 years 3 months service. We would need to get the original document to find if he was pensioned off at Lancaster to see if he is the same man.

John and Margaret's son, William, was christened on August 21, 1803, at St Mary's, Lancaster.

There is a possibility that this William Mulvey was born in Chester in 1806 - so far we simpley cannot be sure.

GENERATION SIX

(Confirmed) William Mulvey married Ellen UNKNOWN; a date has not been found

In the 1841 census, they are living in Henderson St, Toxteth Park:
William Mulvey, 35, Ellen Mulvey, 35, Ann Mulvey, 14, Robert Mulvey, 9, Elizabeth Mulvey, 7, (all b Lancashire) living with a Joseph Butler(35) and a family called Brooks (head Edward, aged 30).

In 1851 they are in Court 14, Sparling Street, Liverpool:
William Mulvey, Head, Married, 45 years old, Shipwright, born in Formby (Hornby), Lancaster
Ellen Mulvey, Wife, Married, 44 years old, born in Formby (Hornby), Lancaster
Robert Mulvey, Son, Unmarried, 18 years old, Shipwright apprentice, born in Liverpool, Lancaster
Elizabeth Mulvey, Daughter, Unmarried, 16 years old, born in Liverpool, Lancaster
Both William and Ellen have their birthplace as Formby, but we now know it was Hornby, near Lancaster.

This census also tells us that William and Ellen were in Liverpool in 1833 when Robert was born.

GENERATION FIVE

Robert Mulvey was born in Liverpool in 1833 and died in 1889, and lived in Toxteth, Liverpool.

In 1881, he is recorded as living at 95 Park Road, Toxteth, aged 48. More about Robert. Robert's wife is Rebecca (nee Wood), 47. Their children (ages at 1881) are: Richard, 21, shop assistant, John, 19, ship's steward, Rebecca Hannah, 15, my great grandmother, (born 3 February 1866), Charlotte, 12, Laura, 9, Amelia, 6, and Edward, 5.

Rebecca Hannah married George Alfred Unwin on May 23, 1885, in Liverpool. See Unwin line.

On Sept 24 1875, Robert Mulvey is recorded in the London Gazette: Robert Mulvey, 129 Park Road, Liverpool stationer, names as executor in will of Robert Gornall, dec'd late of Liverpool, who died Aug 1, 1875.

A CHESTER LINK?

On researching my Mulvey family, I came across substantial information on the Mulvey shipbuilding family of Chester - and I am increasingly convinced that the Liverpool and Chester families are related. My thanks to Tony Barratt, of Chester, for sharing his research, and to my brother, Frank Bramhill, for making visits to Chester library. If you would like more information on Mulvey shipbuilders of Chester, please contact me.

A contemporary news report says that Mulvey and Evans, shipbuilders, moved from Frodsham on the Mersey to establish a yard "near the Crane". in Chester.

In 1814, William Mulvey, shipbuilder, is elected a freeman.

A flush-decked brig called Hope, of London, 154 tons, is listed in the Board of Trade register as having been launched on March 16, 1816 by Mulvey and Evans of Chester. By May 1816, she is on the Thames and is owned by Edward Savage and other, including William Brownfield of Greenwich, pilot.

The commercial directories for 1818, 1819 and 1820 record Mulvey and Evans, shipbuilders at New Crane.

The London Gazette of Nov 11 1820 records the dissolution of partnership between William Mulvey and Peter Evans, shipwrights, at Liverpool, under the style Mulvey and Evans, dissolved by mutual consent.

In 1834 Pigots Directory, a Mulvey W is recorded as a shipbuilder in Crane Street.

In 1835, a William Mulvey is elected a councilman in Chester. He is not re-elected in 1838.

The General Directory for 1840 records a Messrs Mulvey at the Roodee side, and the 1846 Williams Directory records a Thomas Mulvey at Paradise Row, Cheshire.

A 99-ton schooner called Ann Mulvey was built in 1842 in Chester, and was a regular visitor to Amlwch, Anglesey. Note that William and Ellen's daughter in 1841 is Ann and she would have been born in about 1827.

However, there is also another Ann Mulvey, born in Liverpool in 1813, who has Chester links. She is recorded in the 1881 census: Ann MULVEY b 1813 Liverpool widow living at 16 Calvin Street, with sons William, labourer, 45 (bn Chester 1836) and George, sugar porter, 32 (bn Chester 1849)

In 1846, Williams Directory records a Thomas Mulvey (but not a William) , shipbuilder, in Paradise Row, Cheshire.

The IGI records the November 1816 Christening of a William Wilkinson Mulvey in Chester. His parents are William and Peggy. This William Wilkinson is mentioned on March 6, 1843, in an affidavit by Thomas Mulvey of the City of Chester, ship builder, and John Jones, clerk in the Bank of Messrs. Williams and Granville of the said city, "stating that William Boote, son of Joseph Boote of the same city, shipwright was bound apprentice for seven years to Thomas Smith Mulvey and William Wilkinson Mulvey, his co-partner in trade, by indenture dated 27th July 1840. Signed: Thomas Smith Mulvey; J. Jones, before Wm. Hy. Brown, Mayor."

ROBERT AND ELIZABETH

Possibly the first record of the family in Liverpool is the IGI record of the marriage of a Robert Mulvey to Elizabeth Bond on November 28, 1829, at St Nicholas's Church, Liverpool. I believe Robert is the brother of 4 x gt grandfather William Mulvey.

To trace Robert and Elizabeth through:
:: 1841 in Liverpool in the census, born 1805 and 1807
:: 1861 living in Kitchen Street, Liverpool. Ellen gives her birthplace as Formby, which we believe is a mishearing of Hornby, near Lancaster.

In the 1861 census, this Elizabeth (Betty) has her birthplace as Formby, too - which, again, is probably Hornby. It could be that William and Robert are brothers.

There are two references to Robert and Elizabeth in the London Gazette:

Jan 11 1881: the late William Mulvey and the late John Mulvey, sons of Robert Mulvey and his wife Betty, suing for their part in the estate of the late Richard Bond who died April 24 1858. Mulveys entitled to certain leasehold hereditaments, now sold. Liverpool County Court, Palatine of Lancaster.

May 28 1880: Same court case as above, names William Bond as the plaintiff and Joseph Rimmer and others are defendants.

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The Wood Family

We believe our Wood family originated in Cumbria - and specifically Whitehaven. A Jane and Elizabeth Wood are listed on the IGI as christenings at James Street Scotch Presbyterian in Whitehaven. There are a series of Wood children christened at this church going back to the last third of the 1700s, and it would appear that there are three or four distinct families, which could really all be one. The main family appears to be ensuing from Richard and Elizabeth Wood - indeed, there is a birth for James Wood to these parents in 1788 in Whitehaven. Searching the batch for the Holy Trinity church in Whitehaven for marriages, one finds a marriage between Richard Wood and Elizabeth Richardson Walker on August 22, 1787. Perhaps James' parents?

GENERATION SIX

James Wood married Mary Wood, most probably in Cumbria, but we are still trying to find their marriage place. Their children include Jane and Elizabeth, mentioned above. NB: we are discounting a Liverpool marriage of James Wood and Mary Southwell in 1817, as this would appear to be too late.

In 1841, they were living in Sparling Street , Liverpool:
James Wood, 50, Boatman
Mary Wood, 49
Richard 15 (moved to Birmingham, Warwickshire)
Mary, 15 (married Francis Rodrigues, son of Emanuel Rodrigues. He died, though, around 1846, prior to her son Francis James Wood being born. She presumably stayed a widow until she married John Edwards, shipwright, in 1850)
Rebecca 5

Children born Liverpool, James's birthplace unclear, Mary born out of county.

See our timeline on the beginning of the steam tug business on the River Mersey

Mary Wood (15 in 1841) married into the Edwards family. Researching the 1851 census, it would appear that her older sister, Jane, is also married into the Edwards family, and lived at 42 Sparling Street.

Mary was living with Rebecca & Robert Mulvey in the 1871 census aged 81. She died in the June qtr of 1875 aged 85.