Singing Lily

I think it's often interesting to learn the history of people's names. And for the people in the stories on this site, it's especially true. Many of them still carry the names of places practically within walking distance of Leigh. Surnames had been in widespread use for many hundreds of years by the time these folks were living, so when you see a name like that it seems reasonable to imagine the person's ancestors had lived in the area for 10 or 20 generations or more. Gallagher Gallagher is a very old Irish clan name from County Donegal, the northernmost county in the Republic of Ireland. It goes back 1000 years to the clan founder Gallchobhair mac Rorcan ( wikipedia ). The modern Irish version is  Ó Gallachóir . The Anglicized form Gallagher is apparently pronounced goll-a-her in County Donegal, and gal-a-her  elsewhere in Ireland. In Britain and the US it's usually pronounced  gal-a-ger , with a hard G sound. In Old Irish the name has the elements  gall  (fore

Agnes Baxter Farrington's parents were Jesse and Sarah Alice Baxter. This is what I know about them. Jesse Jesse Baxter with daughters Florrie and Agnes, about 1910 Jesse Baxter was born in 1873. He was the son and grandson of boatmen, captains of barges that carried freight on the canals that connect Liverpool and Manchester, through the coal country of Leigh and Wigan. Canal freight was not only a job but also a lifestyle; the whole family lived on the barge, and for much of the 1800s it was common for children to take up the lifestyle and marry children of other canal families. That was the case for Jesse's parents, both of whom were raised on barges. Birth registration for Jesse Baxter in Astley Green ( map ) The 1881 Census shows David and Catherine Marlowe Baxter, Jesse's parents, living on the barge Winnifred with their seven children. By the next census in 1891, Catherine was a widower living with those seven children on Trafalgar Street, near St. Joseph's chur

George and Margaret Gallagher had a family Bible that has passed down through time, barely. The Bible is in rough shape. The cover is entirely loose, as are the first few pages. The binding is intact, but its leather backing is gone. The tin clasps are in good condition, still attached to the back cover, and in general the pages and the numerous illustrations are fine. The cover leather is sorely in need of revitalization. The Book The text and annotations of this Bible are the work of George Leo Haydock , who compiled this version in about 1811. It includes extensive footnotes on the translation as well as the interpretation. The text is extensively annotated. Haydock prepared this Bible in England in part as a defense of Catholicism, at a time when the repeal of the anti-catholic Penal Laws was being considered. Some of the annotations are therefore intended to combat claims of the Protestant clergy that Haydock considered unfair or mistaken. The Haydock Bible was very popular. It wa