QUIGLEY, George ²

   Cause of his death was apoplexy from bursting of cerebral vessel ending in extensive effusion of blood.

   Other names for George were QUIGLY, George and TWEDELY, George.³

  General Notes:

The 1851 census index for Ayrshire recorded a George Quigly living in Beith aged 32 years.

The 1861 census for Beith recorded a family whose surname was noted as Twedely and whose head was George Twedely and his wife Mary Twedely. This in itself is not a surprising variant of Quigley, but in this case it is most unusual as the different generations of the family thus far have been inscried only as Quigleys. George was aged 42 years and had been born in Ireland. He was a labourer. He had four sons between 4 and 11 years of age, all born in Beith except for Joseph who was born in Glasgow. As well as the family mentioned there were two 'visitors' included on the census return: Jenie Walker and Ann Walker. Jenie was aged 18 years and her birthplace was recorded as unknown; Ann, aged 2 months, was born in Beith.

In their marriage certificate of 1862, both George and his wife were recorded as being 'of Burnswynd Beith'. Both of their sons, George and Thomas, were born in Beith, so it seems fair to say that the family started off together in Beith and later went to Kilbirnie.

George's death certificate of 1876 recorded him as an iron work labourer aged 63 years and widower of Mary Ward. George died less than a fortnight after he himself had been widowed. His wife Mary's death certificate recorded him as an iron work labourer.

George was deceased in December 1885 when his son Thomas was married. George was recorded as having been an ironwork labourer.

In the death certificate of his son, George, in 1917, George senior was recorded as an iron worker. ³

  Research Notes:

SOME PROBLEMS

Amid the problems that face us about whether George's wife was called Bridget or Mary or both, we also have to tackle the question of whether he had two parents or four!

In the marriage certificate of 1862 between George Quigley aged 40 years, farm labourer, and Bridget Ward, widow washerwoman, both of Burnswynd, Beith, George's parents were named as
'Patrick Quiggley Farmer deceased and Rose Quiggley M(aiden) S(urname) Mundy'. Presumably the bridegroom himself proffered this information.

However in the death certificate of 1876 of George Quigley iron work labourer, widower of Mary Ward, of Glengarnock, Kilbirnie, the parents of the deceased were named as
'John Quigley farm labourer deceased and Bridget Quigley M(aiden) S(urname) Docherty deceased'. The informant here was George Quigley, son of the deceased, who, like both of his parents, made his X mark, as a signature. It is worth noting that George junior, here, was also the informant of his mother's death in 1876, and only the fact that her parents were deceased was noted, though her parents' names were included in the 1862 marriage certificate between her and George.

What are we to conclude? Only that the balance of probability must surely be that the son, George, did not ever have accurate information, or if he had, had mislaid some of it; that possibly he couldn't read or write what the registrar wrote or coaxed out of him; and that since his two parents were by that time gone from this world, he may have considered it of little importance anyway. His own wife was called Bridget, his mother at least sometimes seems to have been called Bridget, so why not his grandmother too? Or, George may have misunderstood what was being asked of him, or was prepared to provide some answer rather than no answer for an administrative authority figure.

It's likely, in short, that George senior had only two parents after all!

  Medical Notes:

Dr Robert Ferguson certified the cause of death.

The informant was George's son, George Quigley, who had been present where the death occurred. He made his X mark before William Allan, registrar, at Kilbirnie on 25 April 1876. ⁴

George married Bridget WARD on 7 October 1862 in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland.¹ (Bridget WARD was born about 1816 in Ireland ³ and died 11 April 1876 at 11 am in Glengarnock, Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland ⁵.). The cause of her death was asthma, emphysema, cardiac disease and dropsy over 10 years.

  Marriage Notes:

TIn his marriage certificate the groom, George, was aged 40 years, single, and worked as a farm labourer. Bridget was 42 years old, a widow, and worked as a washerwoman. Both gave their address as Burnswynd, Beith. Both made their X mark.

Their wedding took place according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas P. Lee was the Catholic clergyman who performed the ceremony and the witnesses were Felix Friel and Ellen Maguire who made their X mark. ⁴