Thomas Bee and Mary what we know

Since Thomas and Mary's only daughter, married Patrick Mangan and Margaret Sweeney's only son, the descendants for this couple are identical to those for Patrick and Margaret. Go to their page for descendants.

THOMAS BEE

Thomas Bee was born in the parish of Great Eccleston in about 1808. The best fit for his birth and therefore his parents, are a record of a Thomas Bee born to John Bee and Mary nee Cumstive, christened at St Michael's-on-Wyre in Lancashire. Great Eccleston doesn't have an Anglican church, although the parish is called Great Eccleston, and indeed the name "eccleston" means a town with a church. St Michael's-on-Wyre is the nearest church, and is located immediately adjacent to the Wyre River. He was christened on 2nd Feb 1810.

St Michael's-on-Wyre parish church

The Wyre River is to the left of the church. The church is very old and very lovely. I took a number of photos of it, and have set up separate page with these snaps. Click here, or on the photo to the left of this box to view more photos of this lovely English parish church.

Thomas Bee trained as a weaver but tired of this trade and joined the British Army on the 2nd April 1828. See the Full Transcript of his service record for details. He initially joined the 6th Foot at Bolton, (see WO 12/2397 = 1828) then transferred to the 59th Foot. The following summary is extracted from the pay lists and muster rolls of the 6th Foot and 59th foot, the regiments in which Thomas served.

6th Regiment of Foot

Thomas was recruited into the 6th Foot at Bolton in Lancashire. He was posted to the regiments depot at Canterbury in Kent, where there was one company remaining of the regiment (mostly new recruits). The majority of the regiment were located in India, but he never went there. He appears in the pay lists as commencing his pay on the 16th April, about 2 weeks after he signed up. He stayed at Canterbury for about 8 months, then the location of the depot was moved to Chatham, about 25 miles west of Canterbury. This was a good location for regiments serving overseas, because there was access to port facilities. At the start of 1829, Thomas Bee volunteered (as most of his comrades did) to transfer to other regiments. Thos transferred to the 59th foot, which also had its depot at Chatham, so he didn't have to travel very far. The majority of the 59th was at that time in the East Indies.

59th Regiment of Foot

Thomas remained at the depot for about 6 months, (from January to June 1829) until the remainder of the regiment returned from the East Indies. The regiment then moved to Weedon Barracks, which is in Northamptonshire, about 5 miles west of Northampton. Thomas was in Northampton itself until about March 1830, when the regiment moved on to Salford, now a suburb of Manchester. This was where Thomas would settle in later life, and in fact where he died some 56 years later. Some time in the second half of 1830, the regiment was posted to Ireland, to Parsonstown or Birr Barracks, County Offaly.

For the first half of 1832, the 59th Foot was stationed at Mullingar Barracks, in County Westmeath. Thomas Bee however was at Castlepollard, about 20 kms NNE of Mullingar and also in County Westmeath. (Westmeath is west of Dublin, south of County Cavan and east of Galway.

During the 3 musters of the period 1st July to 30th September 1832, Thomas was "on duty" for the 1st and 3rd musters and "At Belturbet" for the 2nd muster. It doesn't say where he was on duty, but since the regiment was stationed at Mullingar Barracks (Westmeath), I'm inclined to think he was there. Belturbet is in County Cavan, and it may be worth looking for Mary there. For the last 2 musters of 1832 however, Thomas was "At Cavan" This is the town of Cavan in central County Cavan. See the map of Cavan. Cavan town is about 10 kms south east of Belturbet where Thomas had earlier spent some time. Since this 5 months is the longest time Thomas had in County Cavan, it seems that Cavan town is the best place to look for Mary.

In April and May of 1833, Thomas Bee was posted to Donegal, in the far north west of Ireland. I assume this is Donegal town in the County of Donegal, because a number of Thomas's colleagues are shown as being at Ballyshannon, which is another town in County Donegal, just south west of Donegal town. During this period the regiment was stationed at Enniskillen, which is in County Fermanagh in modern Northern Ireland. For the 3rd muster of that quarter (end of June 1833) Thomas was on the March to Dublin.

At the end of June 1833, Thomas was on the march from Donegal to Dublin. He would spend almost a year there. From the end of June 1833 to the end of April 1834, Thomas was at Richmond Barracks in Dublin. However he took a 45 day furlough and was away from the regiment and Dublin from 16th October to the 29th November 1833. Did he return to Cavan to marry Mary? Or did he bring her to Dublin to join him. Ann was supposed to have been born in Dublin and this would fit in with these military movements.

At the end of April 1834, Thomas and the regiment were moved to Liverpool and Mary evidently went too since that's where she was living when she was convicted and transported to Australia. For the May and June 1834 musters, Thomas was posted to Chester, but for July and August he was back in Liverpool. For the September 1834 muster, he was on board the "Mary" being transported with a large number of his comrades to his next posting at Gibraltar. As far as we know, Thomas and Mary would never see each other again. One can't help thinking that either there was some hardness of heart on Thomas's part, or that they found themselves to be incompatible after all, because it was quite common for soldier's families to follow them wherever they were posted. There are many references throughout the pay lists of payments made for transport of soldier's wives.

Thomas landed at Gibraltar on the 18th October 1834. He remained there for almost 2 years: until the regiment began to transfer to Malta. At the May muster he was still in Gibraltar, so he must have been transferred to Malta in June 1836.

Thomas arrived on Malta about the 21st April 1836. Apart from a few spells in the regimental hospital, his military life ticked along pretty much as normal.

He served in the West Indies for 1 year and 161 days, so that takes us to about the end of 1842, when he returned to Britain.

He was discharged from the army while serving in Limerick, coincidentally ending his military career in the same place where his daughter's father-in-law began his.

Re-marriage

Thomas Bee married Nancy Fellows on the 10th January 1854, in the Registry Office in Preston, Lancashire. Thomas is listed as a widower, which indeed he was as Mary had been dead 3 1/2 years. His father is confirmed as John Bee, and interestingly his occupation is that of a weaver, not an army pensioner. They set up shop for a time as grocers, in Burnley in Lancashire, appearing in the 1881 census at 64 Temple Street. We have visited Temple Street, which is narrow and short. Number 64 is now part of a very modern cluster home development, so there is no sign of the Bee shop that once stood there. I can't find any evidence of Thomas and Nancy having any children, but Thomas (or possibly his wife Nancy) did have a sister called Jane Hallam living with them at the time of the 1881 census.

Death

Thomas Bee died at his home at 111 Phoebe Street, Salford of cirrhosis of the liver, on the 4th August 1886. His wife Nancy was by his side. They had been married 32 years, but there is no evidence that they ever had any children. According to his death certificate he was 75 years of age and an army pensioner, 59th regiment of foot. We have visited Phoebe Street, which still existss, not far from Old Trafford cricket ground. The houses that must have existed there in 1886 have been swept away and replaced by more modern council houses.

MARY

Mary was born in County Cavan, Ireland in about 1817, so she was bout 9 years younger than her husband. According to her convict document CON 19/3, she was 5 feet 1 inch tall, had fair complexion with freckles, brown hair, hazel-grey eyes, had a small straight nose and a small wart over her right eye. According to her hulk report her mother's name was Ann but her father's name we don't know. He died before her conviction in 1841, so his name is not recorded on her convict documents. She had a brother, Andrew, and 5 sisters: Julia, Katherine, Ann, Rosa, and Biddy. Mary's family were Roman Catholic. She met Thomas Bee when he was posted to the town of Cavan from November 1832 to the end of March 1833. Thomas was then posted to Donegal and then Dublin, and Mary most likely joined her husband in Dublin. A daughter Ann was born to the couple in Dublin during the period of Thomas's posting there which was from June 1833 to the end of April 1834. The regiment was then moved to Liverpool for the next 4 months, although Thomas spent 2 of those months at Chester, and Mary and Ann went too. Thomas then went with the regiment to Gibraltar, but Mary remained behind. She got work as a house servant and nursemaid, but life was tough. She was convicted of stealing a cheese and of 5 counts of drunkeness, in Liverpool, at the Lancaster Liverpool Quarter Sessions on 2nd March 1841. But according to her Convict Indents, she had been in prison on 5 previous occasions, prior to her conviction. For the cheese stealing, she was sentenced to 7 years transportation to Tasmania. She was one of 191 women and 15 children transported on the "Emma Eugenie". The ship set sail on 9th September 1841 and arrived at Hobart on the 18th April 1842. According to the Surgeon's Report, neither Ann nor her mother suffered any illness during the voyage. She was permitted to take her daughter Ann, who was about 8 years old by this time with her, but sadly for both of them, Ann was removed from her mother's care 10 days after they arrived in Hobart and placed in the Hobart Orphan Asylum. As a female convict, she would have been assigned work as a servant in the household of one of the free settlers of Hobart Town, and these householders didn't want convict's children in the house too.

Mary's desire to find solace and comfort in drink continued to cause her problems. On 14th June 1842 while working in the Sloane household she was sentenced to 10 days solitary confinement for Gross Misconduct. On the 10th September 1842, while in service in the Bart household, she was sentenced to 14 days solitary confinement for Being Drunk. On 30th January 1843, while in service with a Mr McGuire, she was convicted of being Out after Hours and convicted to 2 months hard labour at a house of correction. On 6th Mar 1843, while being assigned to the Doolan household, she was convicted of Disorderly Conduct and sentenced to 3 days solitary confinement. On 5th February 1844, while assigned to the Carr household, she was convicted of being Absent Without Leave, and sentenced to 1 month hard labour at a house of correction. She was then ordered to serve a further 3 months probation from 24th April 1844, "previous to being classified." She was classified "2 class" in 1844. On 30th January 1845 while in the Doolan household, she was convicted to 14 days solitary confinement for being Drunk. On 6th June 1845, while in the Harris household, she was convicted of being Drunk and of Neglect of Duties. She was sentenced to 2 months hard labour. She was allowed to reclaim her daughter Ann from the Orphan School on the 16th June 1846. On 19th August 1846, whilst holding a ticket of leave, she was convicted of Misconduct and reprimanded. On September 2nd 1846 she was convicted of being Drunk and fined 6 shillings. On the 9th October 1846 whilst in possession of a ticket of leave, she was convicted of being drunk and sentenced to 2 months hard labour at the Female Factory Hobart.

She was finally allowed her freedom on 16th May 1846. She only enjoyed her freedom for 6 years, continuing to find work as a house servant. She died of catarrh (influenza) on October 21st 1852, when she was just 35 years old. Ann was by this time 18 years old and already married to William Mangan.