Rowney Family Tree

Mary was born around 1831 in the village of Colmworth, in Bedfordshire, England. Her mother, Edith YARRELL, died a few years later, in 1838, when Mary would have been only around 7 years of age. After her mother's death, Mary went to live with her aunt, Mary CHAPMAN, who was living in the village of Goldington, near Bedford, in Bedfordshire. Her uncle, William CHAPMAN, was a shoemaker, and they had a son, John, who was just a few years older than Mary.

In the 1841 census, Mary (aged 11) was still living with her aunt and uncle in Goldington. Her elderly grandmother, Susanna ROWNEY, was also living with them. Her cousin John CHAPMAN (aged 13) was by that time employed as an apprentice shoe maker, probably working with his father.

In 1849, Mary's father, Thomas YARRELL, seems to have remarried, to a much younger woman, in the city of Bedford, but Mary continued living with her aunt and uncle after that time. She would have been around 18 years old at that stage and had begun working as a shoe binder, probably helping her aunt and uncle in their business.

In the 1851 census, Mary (aged 20) was still living with her Aunt and Uncle in Goldington.

In the 1861 census, Mary (aged 31) was living at 23 Edith Street, in the village of Salford, probably in Bedfordshire. She was unmarried and employed as a shoe binder. She was lodging with an unmarried mother named Agnes STELLABOTTE (aged 31) and her daughter, Harriet STELLABOTTE (aged 4). Agnes appeared to have only recently moved to Salford from Yorkshire, herself, and was working as a dressmaker.

Nothing more is known of Mary after this time.