Only Moore; Never DeBarcy

 So, I took a side trip with Marian DeBarcy.  All of the records that we have during her life indicate that she was born in Liverpool. All the records also give her surname as some variant of Moore.  What if she really was Mary Ann Moore born in Liverpool?

How would we find out?  Well, I looked for any variation of Marian/Mary Ann/Mary that was anywhere close to her age in both the 1841 and 1851 censuses (the two prior to her appearance in 1861 with Charles Taylor at 10 Cleveland Square).   For as common as her name is, there weren't very many of them.  

So then I started working through each of the records, trying to determine what happened to each of these girls.  Did they die young?  Did they marry someone other than Charles Taylor?  Did they have any brothers named George or sisters named Silvia as was mentioned in the 'escape from France' story?  

One family in the 1841 census for Toxteth Park stood out:

• Alice Moore 35y
• Jane Moore 12y
• Silvey Moore 10y
• Mary Ann Moore 4y

But the most interesting part about this record was that Jane and Silvey were marked as born in 'Foreign Parts'; Not Liverpool, not Lancashire, not even England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland.  Foreign Parts!

But where?

Found an Alice Etheridge who married a John Moore in 1836 in Liverpool, which was too late for Jane and Silvey to be theirs...but then I noted that Alice was a widow!  Next search turned up a Richard Eathridge, Iron monger who married Alice Tomkinson on 11 April 1821 in Liverpool.  That fits! Then we find Silva Tomkinson (why Tomkinson instead of Etheridge or Moore?) married to James Devine 21 Oct 1849. 1851 Census shows her as born in France, but a British Subject. 1861 census also indicates that she was born in France.  She died in 1869.

George Etheridge also in the 1861 census shows a birth place in France, and also noted that he is a British Subject. However, other censuses indicate he was born in Liverpool.  

So now we have Alice Tomkinson who married Richard Etheridge in 1821 in Liverpool.  Then a daughter Sarah born to them in Liverpool in 1825.  Then a George, Jane and Silvey all born in France.  Then Alice married John Moore, a sawyer in 1836 in Liverpool and had Mary Ann born 1837, Alice 1839, John 1841, Ann 1843 and a Catherine 1845.

I love the GRO Online Index that shows mother's maiden names for all the birth records.  And in it I found an entry for a Mary Ann Moore in 1837 with a mother's maiden name of Tomkinson.  The actual birth registration says:

#256 Mary Ann  born 9th November 1/4 past 1 o'clock p.m., female.  Father: John Moore, a sawyer.  Mother: Alice Moore formerly Tomkinson. Informant: John Moore, father, Herculaneum Potteries South Shore, Registered 4th December; Registrar J. Fellyers, registrar.

So now we know that Marian DeBarcy is really Mary Ann Moore, born in Liverpool 9 Nov 1837 to John Moore and Alice Moore, formerly Tomkinson.  She never had the surname DeBarcy!