McARDLE, Hugh b. 1857

McARDLE

Hugh 

Date of birth: 7-May-1857
Place of birth: County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Date of death:
Place of death:

Father last name: McARDLE

Father first names: John
Father DOB:
Father died:

Mother last name: BRENNAN

Mother first names: Catherine
Mother DOB:
Mother died:

Spouse last name: DUFFY

Spouse first names: Jessie
Spouse DOB: 17-Nov-1860, Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Scotland
Spouse died: 19-Dec-1912, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK

Married date: 6-Jan-1880
Married location: Catholic Church, Whithorn,Scotland

Children with above spouse:

1. McARDLE, John, b. 30-Dec-1880, Whithorn, Scotland
2. McARDLE, Rose Ann, b. 26-Mar-1883, Whithorn, Scotland
3. McARDLE, Patrick b. 20-Dec-1884, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK 
4. McARDLE, Mary b. ??-May-1887, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK 
5. McARDLE, Hugh b. 8-Jun-1889, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
6. McARDLE, Jessie, b. 6-Jan-1892, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
7. McARDLE,Peter Joseph, b. 16-Jan-1895, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
8. McARDLE, Hugh, b. 01-Apr-1896, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
9. McARDLE, Arthur, b. ??-???-1898, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK
10. McARDLE, Mary Elizabeth, b.31-Jul-1904, Whitehaven, Cumberland, UK

About Hugh McArdle

Hugh was a coal miner, born in County Armagh, in Ireland.

His birthdate has been taken from an inscription in the Family Bible, and although we can’t be certain who wrote it, indicators are that it was probably his eldest daughter, Rose Ann. It ended up with Rose Ann's grandchildren and I have a couple of letters written by Rose Ann many years ago, and the writing is somewhat similar.

Somewhere prior to 1880, Hugh left Armagh and moved to Scotland where we can probably assume that he met and married Jessie Duffy, fourth child of Peter Duffy, a carter.

1881 Scottish Census

In the 1881 Scottish Census, Hugh was living with his wife, Jessie, at 4 Isle Street, Whithorn, along with their firstborn son, John McArdle, aged 3 months, and a little girl, Ann Duffy, aged 3 years. 

Ann Duffy is a curious entry. If she was Jessie's daughter, then Jessie must have been around 18 years of age when she had her. However, it would have been both unusual for a young woman to keep an illegitimate child back then, and even more unusual for that child to take its mother's name. My guess is that Ann was probably Jessie's little sister and happened to either be living with Jessie and Hugh, or else simply staying with them to see her new nephew on the night of the Census.

The other interesting thing about this Census entry is that the name has been spelt McCardle, rather than McArdle. The 'double c' led to some confusion with my research for a while!

Also on this Census, Hugh is marked as being an Agricultural Labourer, and a British Subject born in New York, USA. This is the only document I have found which suggests that Hugh was not born in Ireland. In those days, the Census collector gathered the information on one form with several households listed on each sheet, as literacy levels were too low to allow people to complete their own forms, so it's feasible that the Scottish Census collector didn't understand his Irish client!

1891 UK Census

Ten years later, the McArdles (or McCardles as they were again noted down) turn up in Whitehaven, living at '25 Ripton Lane' which probably meant to be 'Ribton' Lane. It no longer exists, so it's hard to know for sure. However, I believe it was located in the southern part of town, and according to http://www.whitehavenandwesternlakeland.co.uk/whitehaven/ribton-lane.htm, 'Ribton Lane connected Swingpump Lane with Rosemary Lane in old Whitehaven'.

Hugh is recorded as the head of the household, and is now a coalminer, and along with their three children (by this time, Patrick had arrived, but Mary and Hugh had been born and died), the McArdles also had two lodgers: Richard McCartney and John J Taylor.

Ann Duffy, who would have been 13 by now, is no longer recorded as living with them. If she didn't survive, then it is quite feasible she was living elsewhere and working in domestic service. 

The seven people on the 1891 Censes for the McArdle household were occupying a total of three rooms. Cosy!!

1901 UK Census

Again the family has been recorded as McCardle, rather than McArdle, and this time, along with their additional children, they still have two boarders, but these men are now Bernard Flinn and Charles M Gonorby.

It took a long while to find out what happened to Hugh after this, but it appears that he arrived in Ellis Island, New York, on 8 October 1907 on the Lucania to join his son John and son-in-law William Butler, in Bisbee, Arizona.

The Ellis Island transcription lists him as Hugh McArder, not McCardle - which made it hard to identify him in the first place. Second issue is that his age according to the manifest was 30, not 50! However, his physical description says that his hair was grey, so this would fit with him being 50 more than 30. It could be that his handwriting on his entry card was mis-read or if he was asked his age, that his brogue sounded like 30 rather than 50. And his place of birth is recorded as Armagh, Ireland, and source town Whitehaven, England, so these fit. Next, he names his son Peter McCardle of 84 Queen Street Whitehaven as his next of kin at home. Although Peter was only 12 at the time, he would have been the oldest living male in the household. It does seem strange that Hugh doesn't name his wife, Jessie, as next of kin, but perhaps in those days it was considered normal to name a male, or a blood relative. The next confirming point is that Hugh's destination is to be with his son, John McCardle in Lowell Road, Bisbee, Arizona. It's nice to have the physical description of Hugh being 5' 6" tall, of fair complexion with grey hair and blue eyes. He apparently has no deformities, is not a cripple and is in good health! His occupation is also listed as miner and he had at least USD$50 on him at arrival.

It can be assumed that Hugh, his son John and his son-in-law William Butler all worked in the Copper Queen Mine, in Bisbee, Arizona. It is feasible that they worked in another mine in the area, but as yet I've not heard of any.

Hugh's wife, Jessie, passed away in December 1912, and as she appears in Whitehaven on the 1911 Census and Hugh doesn't, we can assume that he went to Bisbee to make the family's wealth. Hugh and Jessie owned 84 Queen Street, Whitehaven, and most probably built it, so Hugh was clearly not work shy. But what a way to live! All those thousands of miles away from your wife and not there to help her when she ailed and died.

It is possible Hugh made it home for a while, but I've not yet found any shipping records that are conclusive. What we do know is that Hugh was either still in Bisbee, or back in Bisbee, around 1914-15 as he appears on page 150 of the Bisbee Daily Review, and he is no longer mining, but is still working for the Queen Copper Mine:

McArdle Hugh sample packer C Q C M Co rms B E Fyhr P O Lowell

I think the above entry means that Hugh was packing samples of copper for the mine - perhaps for its travelling salesmen - and that he was living in rooms owned or run by B E Fyhr and that he could be contacted via the Lowell Post Office.

Directly below Hugh's entry is one for his eldest son, John McArdle (note that they are both being recorded as McArdle and not McCardle now), and his wife, Elizabeth. Interestingly, John and Elizabeth are still there in the 1917-18 Bisbee and Warren District Directory but Hugh is not.