CHILDREN OF ROBERT MARCHANT II AND ELIZABETH LAMBERT

ROBERT JOSEPH "BARNEY" MARCHANT was born in 1867 and was baptized on 15 Sep 1867 at St. Patrick in Liverpool, England. On 12 Feb 1893 he married Margaret Josephine Sarsfield (1868-1937) at St. Augustine in Lancashire, England. Robert and Margaret had the following children: Mary Ann (1894-1917), Robert Thomas (1895-1968), George Patrick (1897-1898), Margaret Josephine (1898-1973), Georgina Ellen (1900-1975), Joseph (1903-1976), Sidney Gabriel (1905-1974), Veronica Magdalene (1907-1910), Kathleen Teresa (1910-1939), and Lawrence A Marchant (1911-1911). At the 1891 census Robert is a dock laborer. By 1901 he is a general laborer living at 84 Healey Street with with his wife and children. In 1911 he is a laborer for a grain merchant living at the same address. Robert Joseph died in 1940 and was buried at Ford Cemetery in Lancashire on 22 Jun 1940.

MARY MARCHANT was born on 22 Dec 1868 in Liverpool and baptized on 27 Dec 1868 at St Patrick in Liverpool, England. On 23 Aug 1891 she married Michael Henry Sarsfield (1867-1938), the brother of Robert Joseph's wife Margaret, at St Augustine in Lancashire, England. The Sarsfields had moved over from Dublin sometime before 1881, and both families lived on the same street in Liverpool at the time of their weddings. Mary and Michael had the following children: Mary (b. 1892), Josephine (1897-1945), Michael Leo (1899-1975), Winifred (1901-1994), Gertrude (1903-1993), Eileen (1905-1993), Patrick (b. 1909) and Nora Sarsfield (1913-2007). Mary died on 30 Jan 1958 and was buried on 3 Feb 1958 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

GEORGE PATRICK MARCHANT was born on 1 Dec 1870 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England and baptized at St. Augustine's in Liverpool, listed as the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Lambert) Marchant of Clay Street. In the 1891 census, George was a marine fireman (stoker). He emigrated to New Zealand and appears on the Electoral Roll there as a marine fireman first in 1911. He lived in Auckland and married Genevieve Veronica McCabe (1884-1952) there in 1926. He also worked as a river pilot. They had no children but twice wanted to take members of the family from Liverpool to New Zealand. First, Nora Sarsfield when she was a young teenager and then Joe Brierley (son of Gertrude Sarsfield and Joseph Brierley) after Joe's father died. George died in 1948 at the age of 76 in Auckland, New Zealand.

HENRY STEPHEN MARCHANT was born on 26 Dec 1872 in Liverpool, and baptized on 5 Jan 1873. He died in 1888 and was buried on 27 Apr 1888 at St Augustine in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

ELISABETH MARCHANT was born on 26 Apr 1874 in Liverpool,and baptized on 10 May 1874 at St Augustine, in Liverpool. She died just three years later, in October of 1877, and was buried on 28 Oct 1877 in Ford Cemetery, Liverpool.

THOMAS MARCHANT was born on 4 Apr 1876 in Liverpool. In the 1891 census, Thomas was an unmarried broker's office apprentice. In 1911, Thomas was listed in the census as an unmarried dock labourer working on the Manchester Ship Canal and living in Salford. Family story had it that Thomas lived in Manchester and "had a sweet shop." In the same house as Thomas in 1911 is someone working as a wrapper in a confectionery factory. If he had access to sweets to bring to Liverpool to his nieces and nephews this could have been why he was thought to have a sweet shop. Thomas died in 1957 and was buried on 17 Sep 1957 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

ELIZABETH MARCHANT was born on 13 Jun 1881 and baptized on 26 Jun 1881 in St Augustine in Liverpool. She died at the age of 14 and was buried on 5 Jan 1896 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

Personal Information Census Image Name: Robert Marchant Age: 75 Where born: Maidstone, Kent, England Civil Parish: Liverpool Relation to Head: Father-In-Law View image View blank UK census form SOURCE INFORMATION: 1901 England Census. "England and Wales Census, 1901," St Martin subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

   In the 1901 England census, Robert is a widower working as a night watchman and living with daughter MARY MARCHANT (22 Dec 1868 - 10 Dec 1954) and her husband, Michael Henry Sarsfield (19 Feb 1867 - 16 Aug 1938).
   Robert Marchant, having spent some time in his childhood in the workhouse in Maidstone, ended up in the Liverpool workhouse just before he died in 1909. The Northern Hospital (properly known as the David Lewis Northern Hospital⁶) was just around the corner from Eldon Place in Great Howard Street. It had been set up to deal with accidents and emergencies in the Liverpool Docks. If he had been working still at over 80, he may have been injured but it may just be that it was the local hospital by this time. From there he had gone to the workhouse—although workhouses by this time were often hospitals too so this may have been a sort of convalescence ward. We have uncles born "in the workhouse," but which were actually hospitals and Michael Sarsfield died in what had been a workhouse. (Most finally disappeared with the coming of the National Health Service in 1948.)
   Robert was admitted on Saturday, 30 Jan 1909, brought in by son-in-law Michael Sarsfield. According to his death certificate, he had an operation for a hernia in February. He was admitted to the Liverpool workhouse by the Governor (probably because he'd been in the Northern Hospital) and likely that the next of kin was Mary (as she is named on the Creed register). The Liverpool workhouse placed him in the infirmary—just like his father had been in Lambeth. Luckily—unlike his father—Robert Jr. had family to look after him in the end (it is assumed that he was allowed "home" to Eldon Place with his loved ones to pass away). Robert died due to complications from his hernia surgery on 13 Apr 1909 in Liverpool, and was buried on 17 Apr 1909 at Ford Cemetery.

Personal Information Workhouse Admission Name: Robert Marchant Age: 81 Number: 3546 Profession: Watchman Date: 30 Jan 1909 Admitted By: M. Sarsfield, 59 Eldon Place View image Personal Information Workhouse Admission Name: Robert Marchant Age: 81 Number: 3546 Discharge: 31 Mar 09 From Whence Admitted: Northern Hospital Religion: Roman Catholic View image SOURCE INFORMATION: The National Archives of the UK (TNA).

Personal Information Baptism Name: Robertus Marchant Date of Birth: 26 Jan 1867 Date of Baptism: 15 Sep 1867 Place: St Patrick, Liverpool, Lancashire, England Gender: Male Father's Name: Roberti Marchant Mother's Name: Elizabeth Lambert View image SOURCE INFORMATION: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 PAT/1/6

   The next generation of this family history focuses on two lines: One being the family of ROBERT JOSEPH MARCHANT, the eldest child of Robert Jr. and Elizabeth. This Robert was also known as "Barney" (presumably to differentiate him from all the other Roberts in the family, including his grandfather, father, deceased half-brother from his father's first marriage, and various cousins).
   "Barney" was born on 26 Jan 1867 and baptized on 15 Sep 1867 at St Patrick, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (pictured, below). Robert III (or IV, if you count his half-brother who had passed five years before) was the first child of Robert Jr.'s to live to adulthood, and would grow up to become a dock labourer, like his father, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

St Patrick's Church a Roman Catholic parish church in Park Place, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, pictured in the mid-19th Century and today. Robert Joseph Marchant was baptized here on 15 Sep 1867. St. Patrick's is still an active parish church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Pastoral Area of Liverpool South. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is one of the most historic and architecturally significant churches in Liverpool. Whilst it suffered an unsympathetic reordering scheme in the 1980s, it retains important furnishings and works of art, which enhance its impressive interior.

Personal Information Baptism Name: Maria Marchant Date of Birth: 22 Dec 1868 Date of Baptism: 27 Dec 1868 Place: St Patrick, Liverpool, Lancashire, England Gender: Female Father's Name: Roberti Marchant Mother's Name: Elizabetha Lambert View image SOURCE INFORMATION: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 PAT/1/7

   The second line descends from MARY MARCHANT SARSFIELD, born on 22 Dec 1868 and baptized 5 days later, on the 27th at St. Patrick's, like her brother.
   The Marchant/Lambert family had grown very close with a family living on the same street in Liverpool, called the Sarsfields. The Sarsfield family had immigrated from Dublin sometime before 1881.

Sarsfield

   The origin of the Sarsfield name is Irish. The surname was first found in county Cork, where they were granted lands by Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, for their assistance in the invasion of Ireland in 1172. The family motto is "Virtus non vertitur" (virtue does not turn); The Family Crest is a gold leopard's face; and the Coat of Arms is Silver and red, with a fleur-de-lis counterchanged.

Michael Henry Sarsfield

   Sometime after the Irish famine of 1879, the last main Irish famine (sometimes called the "mini-famine" or an Gorta Beag), her family relocated to Liverpool, where her father, Thomas Sarsfield (1837-1907), found work as a cooper (barrel builder, a trade he tought to his sons), and within ten years rising to the rank of "master cooper."
   Elizabeth Lambert Marchant died sometime around July of 1891, and was buried on 28 Aug 1891 at Ford Cemetery, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. Sadly, she just missed by weeks seeing the Marchants and Sarsfields unite with the marriage of her daughter, MARY MARCHANT, to MICHAEL HENRY SARSFIELD (1867-1938) at St Augustine (Augustini), in Liverpool, on 23 Aug 1891 (Liverpool Catholic Church Registers. Liverpool, England: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 AUG/2/3).
   Michael was born on 19 Feb 1867 in Dublin, Ireland and was a cooper, working for his father in Liverpool. They had the following children:

CHILDREN OF MARY MARCHANT AND MICHAEL HENRY SARSFIELD

MARY SARSFIELD was born on 12 Jan 1892 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. She married James McNally (b. 1890) on 12 Dec 1915 at Our Lady of Reconciliation de La Salette, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, and they had the following children: James (b. 1918), Veronica (1918-2007), Lawrence (b. 1920), Michael Leo (1922-1996) and Frank McNally (b. 1926). Mary died 1979 and was buried on 2 Nov 1979 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

JOSEPHINE SARSFIELD was born on 14 Apr 1897 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. She married Philip Michael Galvin (b. 5 Sep 1896) on 1 Dec 1934 in Liverpool. She died in March of 1945, and was buried on 4 Jan 1945 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

MICHAEL LEO SARSFIELD was born on 7 Apr 1899 and was baptized on 11 Apr 1899 at Our Lady of Reconciliation de La Salette, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He died sometime around December of 1975 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

WINIFRED SARSFIELD was born on 18 Jul 1901 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. In Sep 1930 she married Phillip Harrington (b. 1901) in West Derby, Lancashire and had the following children: Margaret (1931-2000), Philip (b. 1938) and Paul Harrington (b. 1943). She died on 26 Dec 1994 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.

GERTRUDE SARSFIELD was born on 13 Jul 1903 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. In Mar 1930 she married Joseph Brierley (1903-1934) in West Derby, Lancashire, and they had a son, Joseph Brierley (9 May 1932 - 19 Apr 2013). In the 1939 England and Wales Registry, Gertrude is a widow living with her sister, Josephine and brother-in-law Philip Michael Galvin. She died on 20 Mar 1993 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England.

EILEEN SARSFIELD was born on 17 Jun 1905 in Liverpool, Lancashire. In Sep 1934 she married Michael Healy in West Derby, Lancashire, and they had a son, Mike. She died in June of 1993 in Knowsley, Merseyside, England.

PATRICK SARSFIELD was born on 12 Mar 1909 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. In Mar 1934 he married Ada M McCulloch (b. 1911) in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. They had a daughter, Audrey M Sarsfield (1938-1994). Patrick died in Nov 1997 in Knowsley, Merseyside, England

NORA SARSFIELD was born on 13 Oct 1913 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 52). In the 1939 Registry of England and Wales she is a school teacher living with her widowed mother, Mary, and various Marchant and Sarsfield relatives. In Dec 1940 she married Phillip M. Callanan (1910-1997) in Prescot, Lancashire (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol #8b; Page 1863). She died in 2007.

Robert Joseph Marchant and Margaret Josephine Sarsfield Marchant.

Marriage Certificate Image Name: Robertum Marchant Spouse: Margaritam Sarsfield Place: St Augustine (Augustini), Liverpool, Lancashire, England Date: 12 Feb 1893 Father: Robert Marchant View Wedding Certificate SOURCE INFORMATION: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 SVP/2/1; Liverpool Catholic Church Registers. Liverpool, England: Liverpool Record Office..

   But the Marchant/Sarsfield lovefest was not over. Two years later in 1893, the two families merged again, when "Barney," married MARGARET JOSEPHINE SARSFIELD. Margaret was born on 21 Jun 1868 in 2 North City, Dublin, Ireland. Margaret was the sister of Robert Joseph Marchant's brother-in-law, Michael Sarsfield (husband of Mary Marchant).
   By 1901, Robert Joseph Marchant is a general labourer living at 84, New Hedley Street, with with his wife Margaret and children Mary 7, Robert 5, Margaret 2 and Georgina 3 months. In 1911 he is a labourer for a grain merchant living at the same address with wife Margaret, Mary Ann (age 17), Robert (15), Margaret (12), Georgina (10) Joseph (8), Sidney (6) and Kathleen (2). The children of Robert and Margaret are:

CHILDREN OF ROBERT MARCHANT AND MARGARET SARSFIELD

MARY ANN MARCHANT was born between Jan and Mar in 1894, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 7). She died in Feb 1917 and was buried on 5 Feb 1917 in Ford Cemetery, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 282 FOR).

ROBERT THOMAS MARCHANT was born on 18 Jun 1895 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He was an airman in the Royal Air Force during World War I (Service Date: 31 Jan 1918; Service Number 123397; The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England; Kew, Surrey, England; Air Ministry: Air Member for Personnel and Predecessors: Airmen's Records; Series Number: AIR 79). Inthe 1939 Register of England and Wales, he works as a Sugar Refiners Warehouse Labourer. Robert died in Sep 1968 in Manchester, Lancashire, England.

GEORGE PATRICK MARCHANT was born on 5 Mar 1897 in Liverpool, Lancashire. He died in Oct 1898 and was buried on 15 Oct 1898 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 284 FOR).

MARGARET JOSEPHINE MARCHANT was born on 9 Oct 1898 and baptized on 16 Oct 1898 in St Alban's Church, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 ALB/1/7). In 1920 she married James C Malone in Liverpool, Lancashire, England (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Volume Number 8b; Page Number 82). They had Christopher James (1921-1992), Margaret (1923-2015; m. Corneliua Maloney), Mary (known as "Mamie," she was a nun), Rita (she went to live in Canada), Frances, Robert (1929-2016), Sidney (1938-2005), and John Malone (d. 2005). Margaret died on 27 Sep 1973 in Liverpool.

GEORGINA ELLEN MARCHANT was born on 18 Dec 1900 and baptized on 30 Dec 1900 at St Alban's Church, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 ALB/1/7). In Sep 1921 she married James Havelock Inkermann White (1904-1996) in Liverpool, and had a son, Vincent White (1922-2005). She died on 29 May 1975 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

JOSEPH MARCHANT was born on 4 Jan 1903 and baptized on 13 Jan 1903 at St Alban's Church, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 ALB/1/7). In July 1939 he married Lillian Reid (1911-1981) in Manchester, Lancashire (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol #8d, Page 1166). Joseph lived in Manchester, England. He died about 1976, when he was on holiday, visiting his daughter in Australia.

SIDNEY GABRIEL MARCHANT was born on 17 Feb 1905 and baptized on 23 Feb 1905 at St Alban's Church, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Number: 282 ALB/1/8). In Dec 1931 he married Ellen Reid (11 Jun 1904 - 5 Apr 1982; no relation to brother Joseph's wife, Lillian) in Liverpool (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol # 8b; Page 326). They had the following children: Robert Joseph (1933-2001), Marie (b. 1933) and Veronica Marchant (b. 1935). Sidney died on 24 Feb 1974 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

VERONICA MAGDALEN MARCHANT was born between Apr and Jun of 1907 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 4). She died in 1910 and was buried on 10 Jul 1910 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 288 FOR).

KATHLEEN TERESA MARCHANT was born on 1 Dec 1909 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 20). In 1938 she married Edward C Johnston (b. 1911) in Liverpool (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 270). She died in 1939 and was buried on 21 Nov 1939 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 282 FOR).

LAWRENCE A MARCHANT was born between Jul and Sep 1911 in Liverpool (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Vol 8b; Page 41). He died in 1911 and was buried on 15 Aug 1911 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 288 FOR).

WEDDING OF SIDNEY MARCHANT AND ELLEN REID. Left to right, back row: Charlie Garrity (cousin of Ellen Reid); Robert Thomas Marchant; Joseph Marchant; Sidney Marchant; Ellen Reid; Robert Joseph Marchant. Front row sitting: James Patrick Reid (Ellen's dad); Kathleen Marchant; Alice Garrity (Ellen's cousin, who lived with them); Georgina Marchant; and Vincent White. Marie-Clare Monk: "Uncle Vin moved to Canada, his family are over there. I met him once when he came over for a holiday, I think I was about 6 at the time. Mum was close to him, and kept in touch. He had a crush on my Grandma when he was young apparently. When she died, she was the last of them all, he said to Mum that there will be one hell of a party going on up there tonight, which I thought was lovely."

   Robert Marchant, Jr. would have been over 100 years old when that photo was taken; he had died in 1909 at the age of 81, and was buried 17 Apr 1909 at Ford Cemetery, Liverpool, Lancashire, England (Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Liverpool Catholic Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 287 FOR). He was a brave, hard-working man who built a substantial life out of practically nothing. And after experiencing a childhood in the workhouses, the death of a wife and 6 children before he was 40, and the early death of his second wife (at about the age of 50), he would be so proud and gratified to see how his descendants were smiling in that photo... and how they have thrived over the ensuing decades: So numerous in Lancashire that many don't even know they're related, but also spreading out into several continents. This page is designed as a tribute to Robert and his descendants, two of whom made it possible to create at all: Paul Harrington and Marie-Clare Ahern Monk (you can read about them below). Thanks, cousins!

NOTES ON THIS PAGE

¹—Marriage of Robert Marchant to Sophia Jones on 27 Nov 1825 at All Saints, Maidstone, Kent, England. LDS Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I00535-5 , System Origin: England-EASy, GS Film number: 1835448, Reference ID: p 159, 475. Citation: "England Marriages, 1538-1973," index, FamilySearch, Robert Marchant and Sophia Jones, 27 Nov 1825; citing All Saints, Maidstone, Kent, England, reference p 159, 475; FHL microfilm 1835448.

Marriage Certificate Image Name: Robert Marchant Spouse: Sarah Greenwood Place: St Peter, Liverpool, Lancashire, England Date: 30 Mar 1855 Father: Robert Marchant (lath cleaver) View Wedding Certificate SOURCE INFORMATION: Liverpool Registers. Liverpool, England: Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Reference Number: 283-PET-3-51.

²—Marriage of Robert Marchant and Sarah Anna Greenwood: Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932; Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Reference Number: 283-PET-3-51. This collection contains Church of England marriage registers from the Liverpool area of Lancashire County. Before civil registration in England began in 1837, key events in a person's life were typically recorded by the church rather than the state. Parish records are the best source of vital record information in England before the nineteenth century and remain an important source thereafter.

³—Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871. Class: RG10; Piece: 3764; Folio: 42; Page: 16; GSU roll: 841881. There is a mistake in the 1871 census: For some reason, Robert's and Elizabeth's birth information has been reversed. In reality, Robert is from Kent and Elizabeth's probably from Ireland, but nobody has been able to trace her, as yet. Family researchers Paul, Michael and Julie have tried to locate a St. Morgan's parish, but now think the census enumerator used an abbreviation for St. Margaret's (St. Marg's) in Rochester, where Robert was baptized.

⁴—Across the world in Canada about ten years earlier, Robert's brother, William had named his first son William Henry Marchant, so I like to think that Robert's naming of this son was a salute to his brother's family, and proof that they communicated. Fortunately for my line of the family, the fate of Canada's William Henry Marchant was much happier.

⁵—The siblings appeared to be close with each other, but not their father. Robert Marchant Sr. died at a workhouse in in the London Borough of Lambeth between Jan and Mar of 1884, at the age of 79 (General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office; Volume 1d; Page 283). There is little evidence of him in contact with any of the children he had with Sophia Jones Marchant, who herself had died in a Maidstone workhouse in December of 1839 (FHL Film Number: 1835449; Reference ID: 1 252 2013). For more information, read the rest of the Marchant genealogy here.

Staff and patients at the David Lewis Northern Hospital.

⁶—The Northern Hospital opened in March 1834 and was originally located on Leeds Street, to deal with victims of accidents and emergencies in the Liverpool dock area. It moved to a purpose-built hospital, designed by Edward Welch, in Great Howard Street, Liverpool, in September 1845. The foundation stone for a re-built facility on the same site, financed by the David Lewis Trust, was laid by the Earl of Derby in October 1896 and the new facility was opened by Princess Louise as the David Lewis Northern Hospital in March 1902. It joined the National Health Service in 1948. After services transferred to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, the David Lewis Northern Hospital closed in 1978.

TOP IMAGE: Liverpool docks, c.1875; photographer unknown.

COUSINS, COLLABORATORS & CO-CONSPIRATORS...

PAUL HARRINGTON is the great-grandson of William Marchant's brother, Robert. "Robert went to sea (boys from the workhouse often joined the army or the merchant navy). He ended up in Liverpool where he married a Sarah Greenwood in 1854. Their children died in infancy and Sarah died in 1866. Then Robert married Elisabeth Lambert (our great grandmother)." Robert's daughter, Mary, married a Michael Sarsfield in 1891. Paul and his first-cousins JULIE CALLANAN and MICHAEL HEALY were researching their Marchant ancestors by using Mike's genealogical work with cousins JOE BRIERLEY (sadly now deceased) and JIM McNALLY (also sadly deceased), who had made important family discoveries in the dark days before the internet and online searching. Paul had started a blog site on AOL for first cousins to share memories of the Sarsfield family, while Julie had been researching the Marchants. Paul, Julie and Mike then teamed up to research their common ancestor, ROBERT MARCHANT, JR. "We family searchers—cousins Julie (Callanan), Michael and myself—are children of three of their daughters: Nora (1913-2007), Eileen (1905-1993) and Winifred (1901-1994). Winifred married Philip Harrington in 1930, and they had Margaret (1931-2000), Philip (b. 1938-) and myself (b. 1943). By my reckoning that makes my grandmother Mary 1st cousin to William H Marchant; my mother Winifred 2nd cousin to Lillie and Marjorie; and I'm 3rd cousin to Gretchen and Carlton Sr." See Paul with wife Jean by clicking on the photo at right.

MARIE-CLARE AHERN MONK: "I am a great, great-granddaughter of Robert Marchant, brother of William. My mother is a Marchant, granddaughter of Robert's son, Robert Joseph Marchant (1867-1940). My grandad, Sidney, was one of six surviving children of Robert Joseph Marchant (number 3)—four more had died. They were very close and very supportive of each other. Robert Joseph was known as 'Barney' apparently; I have a photo of him that I have loved since childhood, he looks like a very happy man, quite a mischievous look in his eye. He married Margaret Sarsfield, sister of Michael Sarsfield who married Mary Marchant. Both families lived on the same street in Liverpool at the time of their wedding. The Sarsfields had moved over from Dublin sometime before 1881, she was born 1868. From what Mum and Auntie Marie say, she was a strong woman too. Those Marchant men must have been good at finding strong women! To be honest, you probably had to be to survive at all, Sophia especially. The Marchants in our line, have stayed in the north of England and spread to the south of England and Canada as far as I know. One of Barney's brother's, George, went to Australia apparently. A grandson of Grandad's sister, Georgina, was a sailor from Canada. He came to visit us and said that he had been in Australia and got talking to a man. He turned out to be a great grandson of George, very small world! I used to live about 10 minutes walk from the cemetery where William is buried. The first house I bought, a little two up two down, was on a side road off Priory Road. I found another co incidence about this house (nothing to do with the Marchants). My father in law is from the south of England, and I was doing some research for him. His dad was from Anfield, and I found a probate notice that said that Jim's great grandad had died in house about 10 up the road from where I lived. There are a lot of houses in Anfield, so he was stunned. Again, a small world."

SOURCES:

IN MEMORIAM

Over the last few years I've been meeting a lost line in my ancestry -- the Marchant family of Kent and Liverpool. Now that we've finally reconnected, we've lost a matriarch, VERONICA "RONI" MARCHANT AHERN (1935-2020), to COVID-19. They couldn't have a funeral for Roni with more than 10 mourners, for obvious reasons, but they were able to divert the hearse to drive up to her sister MARIE's home, so that she could at least have some closure. Then everybody in her neighborhood came outside to say so long, applauding as the hearse passed by. Roni's son PATRICK AHERN wrote: "Our mum, Roni, was a strong woman who brought us up to look after ourselves and to look out for others. She was a nurse and Sister at Alder Hey for decades until her retirement. She enjoyed her retirement with dad Chris, her children and grandchildren. Like us all, she missed dad desperately since he died in 2004. She continued to live independently in the house until February 2020 when after some falls she was admitted to Southport General. In late March she contracted COVID19 and died on 6 April. An untimely death and unfair in so many ways. We asked for family flowers only at the burial and any other contributions to Claire House. Mum knew and worked with Claire's mum, Chris Cain, and cherished the difficult work they do." Give here: JUSTGIVING.