Mary King was born in Ireland between 1861 and 1863** to John King and Ellen McCabe. Her father was an agricultural labourer at the time of her marriage3and listed the same at the time of her death4, so it can be presumed he was a labourer at the time of her birth also.
She married Joseph McKee in Belfast on 25 April 1886 at the Roman Catholic Chapel of the Holy Cross. At that time, she was a millworker and Joseph was a labourer. The fathers of Joseph and Mary served as witnesses, both were labourers at that time3.
By 1891, Mary, Joseph and her mother Ellen, along with their young son Patrick had moved from Ireland to Scotland and were living at 52 Main Street in Rutherglen6. They moved to 61 King street where Mary bore another six children with Joseph: William, Teresa, Ellen, Maggie, Annie and Dennis1,2. She kept the house and home including looking after both her mother6and her husband’s mother1in their final years.
Mary died on 04 September 1935 at the age of 75 from acute ascending paralysis (also called Landry’s paralysis4, it is a rapidly progressing paralysis that starts in the legs and arms and spreads to the breathing muscles and face). She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Dalbeth, Glasgow next to her husband5.
**It is difficult to be completely sure of her birthdate at this point as there are varying dates indicated. The marriage certificate indicates that she was of full age at the time of marriage which indicates that her birthdate is prior to April 1865. The censuses from 1901 and 1911 indicate 1861 or 1862 and 1862 or 1863 respectively. Mary’s age on her date of death certificate signed by her husband Joseph indicates a year of 1860. This agrees in general with somewhere between 1860 and 1863. Her burial age is indicated as only 65, disagreeing with all other age indications. It is possible that the person entering information into the burial register did not wish Mary to be seen as older than her husband and therefore adjusted her age by 10 years.
Link to Mary King in Genealogy
1Census. 1901. Scotland. Rutherglen. 654/19/2. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
2Census. 1911. Scotland. Rutherglen. 654/5/3 http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
3Marriages (CR) Ireland. RD: Belfast, Antrim. 12 May 1886. MCKEE, Joseph and KING, Mary. 08951661 475, group registration id 2372071. http://www.irishgenalogy.ie: accessed 08 Jan 2018.
4Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 04 Sept 1935. MCKEE, Mary. 654/184. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2018.
5Burials (NPR) Scotland. Glasgow. 6 Sept 1935. 113 402.http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2018.
6Census. 1891. Scotland. Glasgow. 644/3 24/6, p. 6.http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 11 December 2017.
