Biography
Martha Harrison was born in 1886 to Edward and Martha Harrison. She came into the world at 32 Corporation Street in Poolstock. This house, where the family had moved to around 1884, was just around the corner from a pub called the Honeysuckle Inn. The Honeysuckle’s proprietor was Martha’s uncle Henry, the father of Harold Harrison who immigrated to Canada in 1907.
Martha had two older brothers (Joseph and John), two older sisters (Ellen and Elizabeth), and a younger sister (Alice). Another sister, Jane, died in 1882 of meningitis at age 3.
When Martha was age 6, her father Edward was hired by the Wigan Municipal Works to operate the Boar’s Head pumping station. This job came with a house on the premises, possibly because Edward was on call 24/7. In 1892, Martha and her family settled into their new quarters, but tragedy was soon to come.
Around the time of the move to Boar’s Head, Martha’s mother developed breast cancer. In 1894, Edward got bitten by a rabid dog, and died three months later in October. Within a month, Martha died, also at age 39, her death most probably hastened by the trauma of her husband’s death.
Edward’s father Joseph and his unmarried daughters came to Boar’s Head to look after Martha and her siblings, whose ages at the time ranged from 5 to 14. Joseph took over the job of running the pumping station, which enabled the family to stay on in the company house.
According to the 1901 census, Martha, at age 16 was a cotton weaver. At some point, she departed from the tradition of working in the cotton mills, as most of the females in the family had done, since her death certificate states that she was a wholesale grocer, clerk.
As time went on, Martha most likely continued to live with her aunt Margaret, since neither had ever married, and both were living at 42 Kenyon Road at the time of their deaths—Margaret in 1943 and Martha in 1946 at the age of 60. She is buried in the Wigan Cemetery.
Source Documents
Details
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Residence:
1888-05-15, 32 Corporation Street, Poolstock, Wigan;
Edward & Martha Harrison family home.
Per Alice Harrison’s Birth Certificate.
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Residence:
1891-04-05, 32 Corporation Street, Poolstock, Wigan;
Per 1891 Census.
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Residence:
1901-03-31, Pumping Station, Boars Head, Standish;
Grandfather's home.
Martha, age 15, was orphaned and living with her grandfather, Joseph, three aunts, and siblings.
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Occupation:
1901-03-31 ;
Cotton Weaver.
Per 1901 Census.
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Residence:
1946-11-03, 42 Kenyon Road, Wigan;
Per Martha’s Death Certificate.
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Occupation:
1946-11-03 ;
Wholesale Grocer.
Per Martha’s Death Certificate.
- Burial: 1946-11-07, Wigan Cemetery & Crematorium;