Back Again for Help

[David R McKay]

Hello all. I am back with another map mystery. Everyone was so helpful to me last September in finding Barratt St. in Manchester, that I thought I might have the same luck in locating either Edensor St or Edensor Place in Chorlton-Upon-Medlock in 1848.
I believe I have mentioned that I have been searching the Manchester, England, area for my great grandfather Robert McKay’s family for the better part of 60 years. I have a birth record of their son William born 1845, as living on Barratt St. However, soon after that they must have moved. I have recently learned that a Robert McKay is listed in the 1848 Slater’s Directory as living on Edensor St, Chorlton-Upon-Medlock. I cannot find either a street or a place called Edensor. After having searched all the records available to me I have come back to this group to ask for help. Robert left for the US in June of 1849 so I know there are no records in England after 1849. There is a Robert McKay listed in the 1841 census in the civil parish of Bolton Le Moors, Salford, Lancashire living in a military barracks with multiple families. I don’t know if there is any connection of this information to the Slater’s Directory listing him as living on Edensor St.
If any of you have an idea or information I would be eternally grateful if you would pass it along.
Dave McKay
Monroe, Michigan USA

[RonOne]

I can't find an Edensor Street but there was an Edensor Place (Chorlton on Medlock)

https://www.
old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

Enter Coordinates: 384121 and 396662

Then select the 1891 map from the list on the right.

The 1908 map gives a larger view of the surrounding area.

[David R McKay]

Thank you Ron for the reply. With the coordinates you have provided, I was able to locate Edensor Place on the 1908, the 1891, and 1850 as well as on the 1844-1849 Manchester & Salford CD which I purchased from the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society. The street was only marked on one of the later old maps. Two of the surrounding street names have changed, but the shape and houses of Edensor Place remained the same on all the maps. The 1848 Slater’s directory lists Robert McKay, as a mason living at 18 Edensor St, C-U-M. I am reasonably sure this is my Robert since he was a stone mason. Now all I have to do is to figure out why he went to Manchester from Scotland in 1836. I believe he was involved in building the railroads there before he came to the U.S. to apply his trade in building bridges abutments, tunnels and rail road beds here in this country.
Thank you again
Dave

[Jan1954]

Now all I have to do is to figure out why he went to Manchester from Scotland in 1836.

Hello Dave,

A number of churches were starting to be built in Manchester in 1836: St Luke's, Cheetham Hill Road, the Unitarian Chapel in Upper Brook Street and St Thomas in Ardwick Green to name but three. It was also the start of the building of the Athenaeum in Princess Street, built between 1836 and 1839. (Above information from manchester2002-uk.com/buildings/who-built.html - put https://www. in front.)

According to BBC Manchester, the Art Gallery was also built in 1836 (bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/image_galleries/280308_art_gallery_125_gallery.shtml?3 - again, put https://www. in front)

So it seems that Manchester was quite the hive of building activity in the 1830s and masons would most certainly have been needed.

[Ladkyis]

Manchester was exploding with building around that time. The mills were being built and people were flocking to the city because of the promise of employment. It really was the centre of industrial revolution at that time. Railway stations and grand civic buildings were all going up very quickly so there would have been long term employment for a craftsman. It must have been a terrible and exciting place.

[David R McKay]

Thank you Jan1954. I will check out the WEB links that you have listed. Manchester has been an interesting study. The records are there if one has the patience and knowledge to search them out. I have been looking for the fellow for more years than I care to remember. In the US he left records everywhere, but in Scotland and England he was rather low key.

David McKay
USA

[David R McKay]

Ladyis thank you for your reply. Manchester has been an interesting study; however, from the looks of things, the environment must have been pretty depressing. As I mentioned in one of my replays in the US he spent most his with railroads and civic buildings. I suspect he got his experience in the days that Manchester was undergoing a boom. I keep looking for records of Scottish stone mason in Lancashire but they are difficult to find.

[olliecat]

I keep looking for records of Scottish stone mason in Lancashire but they are difficult to find.

Hi David

Do you have an approximate birth date for Robert McKay. When and whom did he marry?

[Jan1954]

Hi David

Do you have an approximate birth date for Robert McKay. When and whom did he marry?

David refers to a Robert Stephenson McKay born October 1813 in this post but we still need to know when and whom he married.

[David R McKay]

Robert Stephenson McKay was born Freaserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Oct 31, 1813. He went to Manchester, England, 1836. It was there that he married, either by regular marriage or by non-traditional marriage, Emma Hurst, [Hirst, Herst Hursh] about 1845. Emma was born March 6 1825, (possibly 1827) Chorlton upon Medlock. The first child was born to this couple Nov. 26, 1845 in Manchester, Ancoats District. He was named William Wallace McKay. The family left the Manchester area in 1849. While there he lived at 32 Barratt St. Ancoats, and possibly 18 Edensor, Charlton Upon Medlock, 1848. Robert may have been in some military service in 1841 in Bolton Le Moors Salford. A Robert is listed in the 1841 census at military barracks along with 196 others. His occupation was a stone mason
Hope this helps.
Dave