My mother's paternal grandfather was Patrick Kilgariff (c.1846-1904). He had his own business having something to do with selling cloth. In various records he is listed as a dealer, draper, cloth dealer, or pedlar (the British spelling). A draper was a retailer or wholesaler of cloth, mainly for clothing. Perhaps he also sold items associated with that such as thread, buttons, ribbons, cording, scissors. I think he may have perhaps been an itinerant dealer?
I think he may have been itinerant for this reason. Traditionally, young people in Ireland in this time would have married other young people from nearby farms or villages, places within walking distance or cart-ride distance. Patrick was from County Mayo, but Mary Mannion was from County Sligo. In the 1850s her family lived in Strandhill, a coastal area west of Sligo town. Patrick and Mary's locations were at least a full day's walk from each other, about a twelve hour walk. So, it's not likely they would have come across each other from their home areas. They certainly could have met if Patrick were an itinerant peddler.
At any rate, when Mary and Patrick married, their addresses were in the town of Sligo itself. Of their eleven children, two were born in Sligo (the first and seventh child). The rest of their eleven children were born in County Tyrone, though two different areas of County Tyrone, from 1874 to 1890.
From the civil records it seems my great grandfather Patrick could not read or write. He left his "mark" if he was the one reporting the births of his children. It boggles my mind that he could run a business without knowing how to read and write. He must have been able to do some math, at least? However, things did not go well, as you will see further on. Here is his wedding register with his "mark" highlighted. The registrar is a witness to Patrick's mark...but he forgot to write the word "mark," he only wrote the word "his." (Also, interesting--notice his father's last name is spelled Gilgariff)
He is listed as a draper in the Dromore section of the "Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory" for 1892, found on Ancestry.com. This is the town where he and his family lived. Most of his children were born in Dromore, including my grandfather, John, the youngest, in 1890.
Here is a notice of my great-grandfather Patrick going into bankruptcy in 1895. However, here he promises to pay what he owes in three installments rather than actually go through with the bankruptcy.
Here are the people to whom he (apparently?) owed money because this notice was in the same newspaper (or dealer magazine?) on the same day as the above notice.
Coates & Co., is an existing company which makes yarn. Aitken, Campbell, & Co. may have had something to do with textiles as I found an exhibit in a museum from a few years ago which had two pieces of cotton cloth by a company with the same name. I also found online a company by the name of Hamilton & Co., but it seemed to be American-based, not UK-based company, selling women's clothing. I could not find any information about any of the other companies/names.
On Family Search I found more information which, to be honest, I can't decipher even though it's in English. It's in 'Legalese'. It's a conveyance record, but I'm not sure if my great grandfather is taking out a 99-year lease, or giving one up? This record is in County Tyrone, in 1885, where the family lived at this time, which was five years after my grandfather's birth. If you can figure it out, leave me a comment!
From 1882 to 1896 Patrick was listed (bottom of the page) in the Northern Ireland Valuation Revision Books in Dromore, Tyrone. There's always taxes to be paid.
In 1899 and 1900 he is listed as a "dealer" and living at 2 Holmes Street, in the Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory. So the family had left Dromore by then, and were living in Belfast.
In the 1901 Census, below, the family was living on Silvergrove Street in Belfast. Three of the oldest children had emigrated away from Ireland to NYC where they were staying near a maternal aunt. The next three sons had already left for Glasgow, Scotland, even though the family counted two of them as being with them in Belfast! I don't know if the family had any contacts in Glasgow that the brothers may have been with.
Notice Patrick says he is clothes dealer. I don't know, though, if he was actually still working in the trade. However, in the Lennon-Wylie.co.uk 1901 Belfast/Ulster Street Directory, snip below, Patrick is listed as being a clothing dealer, so maybe he was still working from the home.
At any rate, in 1904 Patrick passed away. I have not found any obituary which might reveal any further information. He was only 58. His civil death registration is below. Cause of death: "Cardiac disease, 1 month." I am thinking it meant he'd had a heart attack and managed to hang on for a month.
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