The Bottomley's of Ancoats

This is an incomplete story as I don't yet have all the details. I just wanted to jot down what I have at this point, so I don't lose track of where I'm at - as my daughter is now overdue, life is going to get very busy very quickly sooner rather than later!

We meet the family in 1901 on Marth 31st, the night of the census. William Bottomley is the head of this household and works as a flagger, someone who lays paving stones. He resides at 22 Marcer Street with his wife, Mary Ellen,daughter, Katie, and sons Herbert and William. William the son is my great grandfather and moved to Lincolnshire, at some point between 1901 and 1917 to marry my great grandmother, Lilian Smith - but that's another story.

17 Marcer Street in 1896, the house where my great grandfather was born.
Posted by Manchester Libraries.

The story gets complicated because I have found a William and Mary Ellen Bottomley at a nearby address in 1890, but Herbert, who would be around 5 years of age at this time is not present on the record. Perhaps he's spending the night with his biological father? Maybe that's why the couple's youngest son is called William - after his father William, and Herbert is named after his father? I have found a Herbert Kennedy born in nearby Salford - Kennedy being Mary Ellen's birth surname. My next step here is to buy the marriage certificate of William and Mary Ellen, which is around 5 years after the birth of Herbert, to find out if Mary Ellen is recorded as being a widow or previously married.

Back to Marcer Street, today this house and this street no longer exist. The area was bombed around 1940-1941 with at least 1 house being demolished. Eventually the area was purchased by compulsory order and being redeveloped. These days there's a Marcer Road, but not quite on the footprint of the old Street.

The blue circle is for high explosives, the red shading for demolished buildings. This map was created by
Manchester City Council City Architect's Department (Building Surveyor's Division) in 1940-1941.

As yet, I have been unable to find the family in 1911 (apart from my great grandfather). But as I continue to research, perhaps I will rediscover them, hopefully after the war having survived and prospering.


References:
Maps Collection. 2018. - Maps Collection. [ONLINE] Available at: https://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/maps002~1~1~351132~123655?qvq=w4s%3A%2Fwho%2FManchester%2BCity%2BCouncil%2BCity%2BArchitect%252527s%2BDepartment%2B%252528Building%2BSurveyor%252527s%2BDivision%252529&mi=48&trs=49https%3A%2F%2Fluna.manchester.ac.uk%2F...%2Fmaps002~1~1~351132. [Accessed 05 September 2018].
Marcer Street Photograph: Flickr. 2018. Flickr. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/6431339079/in/photostream/. [Accessed 05 September 2018].