Toxteth Park Cemetery

I found something today...

Toxteth Park Cemetery burials. I wondered about it. There is a great history listed there that references many cemeteries in Liverpool. The basic premise is that as people moved out of the squalor of the inner city, the churches' congregations in that area decreased. Eventually many churches were closed, and pulled down because the value of the land in central Liverpool was so high. Those buried in these church yards were exhumed and moved to centralized locations...Toxteth Park Cemetery was one of these.

And reading all of this made me realize that I have almost no records of burials for the Taylor family living in Liverpool. Hmm...

So, searching for the surname "Taylor." There are quite a few. But one jumped out at me: Samuel Taylor, address 7 Seddon St, buried 1 Oct 1875... Seddon St...that's the family address again (#10 Cleveland Square is on the corner of Cleveland Square and Seddon Street...the Paint & Varnish side of the business is usually listed on Seddon Street, while the Pharmacy is Cleveland Square) Well, yes, that was Samuel Taylor, Charles' next older brother, who died "suddenly" 28 September 1875 . There was a link for the grave itself and I found that both Samuel and his widow, Eliza were buried in that grave. And, oh joy! Eliza's burial date and address!

I'm loving this site already! Now to see who else is buried there...and where they are buried (did I mention the grave maps?)

Uncle Samuel Taylor and Money

Charles [Sr.]'s brother Samuel's will is written 1855, with codicils. He dies 1875. His will states that money is to be held in trust for the child or children of his brother, Charles Taylor, living at the time of Samuel's death. In 1855, Charles had only Mary Collis Taylor, who would have been around 9 years old. Anne Clarke Morgan did not die until 1856. But in later codicils, Samuel doesn't bother to change that to state, "the child of my Brother, Charles Taylor, Mary Collis Taylor." Perhaps, Charles' relationship with Mary Ann Moore was a secret? Perhaps not. Perhaps, Mary Collis Taylor was taken on as a poor relation and was not able to marry until she had received this money from her uncle...she doesn't marry until 1880! She was 34. (That also explains why she only had three sons.)

However, there is no mention of money from Samuel in her marriage contract (1908 version). Where did that money go? It was roughly 1000 pounds.

Taylor? Moore? DeBarcy?

Am I crazy? Every so often I wonder if I've jumped to a conclusion that makes these families tie together. Then I have to go through all of the information to validate my conclusion that they are one and the same. So here goes...

Charles Taylor, Jr. [We'll call him this, for clarity] was born 1868 in Liverpool, England and immigrated to the United States in 1885. Charles, Jr. left documents listing information about his family in England.


Charles Taylor, Sr. was a druggist. He did work at #10 Cleveland Sq. (1861, 1871) That building was originally owned by his father, then passed to his brother, Samuel who died 1875, directing that all his property be sold and the proceeds split between his inheritors. So it isn't surprising that in 1881, Charles Taylor Sr. is a retired druggist. #2 Brook Subery....turns out to be Tuebrook Suburb in Liverpool, but we haven't yet been able to locate a Clifton Villars address.

There is indeed a Mary born to Charles Sr. and a previous wife, a Mary Collis Taylor. (Christening, 1851) The christening record gives Mary Collis Taylor, daughter of Charles Taylor (druggist) & Anne Clarke [surnamed Morgan]. The 1851 census gives the three of them, Charles Taylor, druggist; wife Annie Clerk Taylor, & dau. Mary Collis Taylor. There cannot be a mistake.

After her mother's death Mary Collis lived with Sam Taylor (1861-Mary Collis Taylor, neice) and John Taylor, who was a surgeon (1871-Mary C. Taylor, neice) although he was living on Hope St instead of the Parliament St address that Charles Jr. gives.

A little off on the "Dr." Sam Taylor. He was never listed as a doctor. He was a Paint & Varnish Manufacturer & Land owner (does this refer to the Cleveland Square address that he received as inheritance from his father? Have no record of him living at Figueroa Street, either.

So Mary Collis Taylor clearly ties Charles Sr., John and Samuel together as brothers.

Now as to Charles Sr.'s second family--our family. We could never find them by the surname Taylor. They just didn't show up. It wasn't until my sister found their names on the ship's register that we found the surname of "Moore." When we then looked for them with the surname "Moore" we found everything we expected. Our copy of the 1861 census for #10 Cleveland Sq was a really bad copy. We thought we could read Mary A Moore, but we weren't sure until I recently got a cleaner copy. It was definitely, Charles Taylor, druggist 45y & Mary A Moore, servant 24y, but she was born in Liverpool, not France...hmmm....

1871 William Moore 55y chemist, born Wale, Lancashire; wife, Mary Ann 33y born Liverpool; William 11y scholar born Liverpool; George H. 9y scholar born Liverpool; Annie 6y scholar born Liverpool; Charles 3y born Liverpool

1881 Mary Ann More, 44y widow, Machinist born Liverpool; Charles 14y, scholar born Liverpool; Jane 8y, scholar born Liverpool
1881 Groman family on Great Howard St. Ann Moore 15y, servant, born Liverpool.

Marian (Mary) Taylor, most of the information Charles Jr gave we cannot yet validate. However, the fact that Marian was also known as Mary, validates the information that we have found listing her as Mary Ann Moore.

All of the kids: his numbers don't add up, but of the children we have been able to track down birth records for, he's right on except for one thing--the surname. We have Christening & Birth Registration for William. Christening for Annie. Birth Registration for George. Christening & Birth Registration for Charles. Unfortunately, nothing for Alice Jane (Jennie). All of these records give them the surname of "Moore." All of the places that he records them currently living in were correct prior to 1950 (with the surname of "Taylor" in the USA).

Oddball information is that, William, George & Charles Jr's birth registrations have no father listed. However, William's christening record lists Charles Sr. as a bookkeeper, Annie's christening record lists him, a "victualler" and Charles Jr's christening gives him as a druggist.

A couple of other pieces of information not listed on this document: Marian DeBarcy was 20 years younger than Charles Taylor. This is validated by the 1861, 1871 & 1881 censuses & both Mary Ann Moore's death certificate & Charles Taylor Sr's death certificate.

Mary Ann Moore who died in 31 Dec 1882 is the same Mary Ann Moore we've been tracking. Ages match, she is the "widow of Charles Moore, Druggist" and the informant is A. Moore, daughter, with a different address...this would have to be Annie who was a servant in another household.

Charles Taylor Sr. in 1881 is retired druggist born in Liverpool, with wife, Margaret & daughter Nellie, 1y. 1891 census give Charles Taylor Sr. as retired druggist born in Liverpool widowed with four children; Nellie 11y born Liverpool; Fredrick 8y born Walton on the Hill; Margaret 6y born Walton on the Hill; Esther 2y born Walton on the Hill

Charles Taylor Sr. dies 24 Oct 1895, retired chemist, Informant is N. Taylor, daughter with the same address as Charles. His Letters of Administration state the same death date and address and state that Mary Collis Dickins (there's that Collis middle name again!) wife of Edward Francis Dickins "the natural and lawful daughter, and only next of kin" recieved the entire estate. Okay, so the "only next of kin" is a little off, but it is clearly the same Charles Sr. If Mary Collis Taylor is his daughter from the first marriage. His death certificate informant is Nellie Taylor, daughter from the third marriage. We already know that Mary Collis Taylor is the half sister, Mary that Charles Jr. was mentioning.

Therefore, Charles Taylor Sr. druggist/chemist born 1815 married 1st Anne Clarke, their child: Mary Collis Taylor born 1846 who married 1880 Edward Francis Dickins. Charles Sr. married 2nd Mary Ann Moore (Marian DeBarcy), their children: William born 1860, George born 1862, Annie born 1865, Charles Jr. born 1868, & Alice Jane (Jennie) born 1875. Charles Sr. married 3rd Margaret (possibly Rooney), their children: Nellie born 1880, Fredrick born 1881, Margaret born 1885, & Esther born 1889.

One man, three marriages (relationships?), 10 kids. Taylor & Moore surnames.

I guess I'm not crazy...he was!

Why do we have a picture of Mary Collis Taylor Dickins?

When do you think this picture was taken of Mary Collis? My first guess was that it was taken when Mary Ann Moore [Marian DeBarcy] married Charles, Sr. That must have been around 1859. (William was born in 1860.) Mary would have been 13. Did girls put their hair up that early? I wish I could see her pendant better. It looks totally flat. I wonder if it got turned around and what we are looking at is the back of the pendant?

Why would Mary Ann keep this picture of Mary Collis even after she split up with Charles Sr.? The fact that she kept it must mean that it was hers to begin with, which is one reason why I think she commissioned the sitting. Was her early picture (see sidebar) taken at the same time? A girl's day out? Trying to make friends with a [future?] step-child?

Mary Collis Taylor bounced around living with different uncles at different times. In 1851, she lived with her father, Charles & mother, Ann Clarke in Tranmere, Cheshire. In 1861, she lived with Uncle Samuel Taylor at 162 Olive Park in Wavertree. In 1871 she lived with Uncle John Taylor at 51 Hope Street in Everton. In 1881, she was married to Edward Francis Dickins. They are together in 1891 & 1901. Of course we have to take this with a little salt, since the censuses are only a single day's snapsnot in a 10-year period. But, Charles Jr.'s notes say that she lived with Uncle Samuel, so that sounds as if she never did live regularly with Mary Ann & Charles Sr. I wonder why, especially if Mary Ann tried to make friends with Mary Collis as this picture might suggest.

Who has the original photograph? This copy was given me by my cousin. It doesn't have the photographer's stamp on it, so I have no idea whether it was taken in Liverpool, or on a trip they all might have taken together. I might even be able to date it somewhat by the photographer's listing in the directories. If only we knew.

Mary's middle name came from her grandmother, Sophia Collis, who married John Taylor, Esq. A cousin contacted us who had a old transcription of an even older family bible record. His record corroborated what we had researched through wills and censuses and gave us a few more details.

But we still can't locate a marriage record for Charles Taylor and Ann Clarke.

What is it with middle names in this family? In Mary Collis's christening record her mother's name of Anne Clarke appears. In the 1851 census, she has the name Annie Clerk Taylor. In both of these Mary has the middle name"Collis." Why is this so important? In every record we have found Mary shows up as "Mary C." or "Mary Collis" and yet Charles Jr. did not record her middle initial in the family story he provided us.

So it all comes back to the same question; Why do we have a picture of Mary Collis Taylor?