Rigmaiden Family History Blog: James & Catherine Rigmaiden's children : William

William Rigmaiden was born in the Union Workhouse, Mill Road, Everton on the 13th January 1863.

Union Workhouse, Mill Road

His mother, Catherine was aged twenty years. The next mention of them is in the UK 1871 census living at 4 Rock Street, Old Swan. She is described as a widow, lodging with Ellen McGarry (also a widow) and her family. Catherine is working as a laundress.
In the 1881 census, William has lodgings of his own at 11 Leigh Street, West Derby with the Smith family. Head of the family, Thomas Smith, is described as a cattle drover (sounds like something out of the Wild West!). William is working as a labourer, aged 17.

From the US census reports we know that around 1882 William emigrated to America, posssibly marrying Mary Ellen Sellers there in around 1886. It seems likely that they had a child that year that did not survive. [NB: Recent information received includes copies of William and Mary Ellen's marriage certificate and their son, William H Rigmaiden's, death certificate. The marriage certificate states that William [Edward] Rigmaiden was 23, born in England, parents James Rigmaiden and Kate Almond. He lived at 41 Railroad Ave, Jersey City and was a laborer. Mary Ellen Sellers was his bride, aged 18, born in England, parents Henry Sellers and Jemima Walley. She also lived at 41 Railroad Ave. They married on the 18th September 1885 at St Mark's Church. Their son, William died on the 25th June 1887, aged 8 months, of convulsions and was buried in Bayview Cemetery, Jersey City (see below). Their address then was 41 Grand Street, Jersey.

Bayview Cemetery

City of Chester 1879

William appears on a ship's passenger list on the 21st January 1890 travelling from Liverpool to New York on the ship the City of Chester, one of the ships on the Inman Line (see above). He is aged 27 and a labourer, giving his country as the United States so he must have become a naturalised citizen by then. One wonders about the reason for his trip.

City of Berlin

It is also possible that Mary Ellen made a trip to Liverpool in 1892 as Ancestry has record of a Mary Rigmaiden travelling on the City of Berlin (see picture above) arriving in England in the August of that year. She is described as a spinster of 19 (birth about 1873), a foreigner, ie not English. It would seem possible that she returned to New York on the 29th October 1892 as records indicate that an M E Rigmaiden was a passenger again on the City of Berlin, but this time gives her age as 25 (born 1867) and married! She is a citizen of the USA, resident in Jersey City, travelling in the 2nd cabin with 1 piece of luggage. The second lot of details match better than the first but the census returns indicate she was born in 1871, making her 21 in 1892. [Her death certificate gives her date of birth as July 10th, 1869 - see below]

Both William and Mary Ellen appear in the 1895 New Jersey census but minimal information is included. They have two boarders: James Seller's (Mary Ellen's brother) and George Kennedy. Their precise address is not given, merely that they live in the 7th precinct, 1st ward.

In 1900 they were living in Jersey City at 312 Communipaw Avenue, with Mary Ellen's brother, James Sellers who is 27 and single. William is 35 (should read 37) and Mary Ellen is 29. William records that he has been in America since 1882, whilst his wife and her brother have been there since 1879. William and James both describe themselves as naturalised citizens, William is a baggage master and James is a pipe-fitter. They all describe their parents as English. Their house is rented. Their address on Communipaw is at the Liberty Park end, close to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which may have been their first sight of the United States.

In 1910, the Rigmaidens were living at 473 Mallory Avenue. William and Mary Ellen are the only occupants. She is recorded as having had one child which died. He is 43 (should be 47), she 39. They have been married for 22 years (married in 1888)[NB: actually 1885], both of English origin. He moved to the US in 1882, she in 1880. He is an odd job labourer. They can both read and write. They live next to a family (James and Annie McBride)

So far a census record for 1920 has not been found for William and Mary Ellen

Mary died in 1921 on February 16th of miliary tuberculosis aged 51 at St Francis Hospital, Jersey City, her date of birth was given on her death certificate as July 10th, 1869. She was buried in the New York Bay Cemetery.
.
According to the 1930 census William is a widow, aged 67, living at 232 Duncan Avenue (between Nunda Ave and Belvidere Ave), Jersey City, near Lincoln Park. He owns this house and living with him are his sister, Annie (48), and her husband, Edgar Lutier (52), with some of their children; Joseph (19); Catherine (17); Florence (12) and William (10). The census also records that he married at 21 and his sister at 18 (Edgar was older at 23). Annie and William are recorded as going to the US in 1879 (I think that this information is erroneous as 1882 is a more realistic date for William - William is in Liverpool in 1881 - and Annie wasn't born until that year. I think that Annie emigrated later). William is retired, whereas Edgar works in the cemetery. William and Annie are naturalised Americans, whereas both Edgar's parents were born in New Jersey.