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The first appearance of James’ father Thomas Bready is in the 1861 British census.  He is living in Bentham, Yorkshire, England with three of his siblings and with Sarah McComb, his future wife.  From this census we learn that he and Sarah are both 21 years old, so they were born around 1839.  James, his younger brother is just 18 years old.  Jane, his older sister, is 23, and Mary, the youngest is only 14 years old.  All were born in Ireland.  I have not been able to locate birth records for any of them, nor marriage or death records for Jane or Mary.  And I have not found Jane or Mary on any other census under the name Bready or Brady, so assume they either married, died, or returned to Ireland.  Thomas and Sarah were married later that year, on September 7, 1861 in Bentham, West Yorkshire, and their first child was born the following month.  On their marriage record, I discovered that Thomas Bready’s father was Joseph Bready and that Sarah’s father was Stuart McComb.   Fortunately, Thomas’ brother James married in Scotland, where they record the names of both parents.  James married Matilda Hayes on December 29, 1865 in Barrmill, Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland, and from this record I learned that not only was his father Joseph Bready, but his mother was Mary Johnstone.  His mother is listed as deceased, but not his father, who is said to be an agricultural labourer, though I found no further record of his life or death.

James’ was the only line to retain the original spelling of B-R-E-A-D-Y, though several of his children anglicized it to Bradie or Brady.  James and Matilda had ten children.  The firstborn was their daughter Mary.  Mary was born on April 27, 1867 in Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland.  She was not in the 1871 Scotland census (or any other census) with her parents, so must have died in infancy, if not shortly after birth.  Their next child, another daughter, also died young.  Ann Bready was born on January 17, 1870 in Beith and died on March 7 of the same year.

The third child, yet another daughter, lived and thrived.  Jane Bready was born on April 12, 1871 in Beith.  She married John William Douglas in Beith on December 31, 1891.  They had seven children together.  James Douglas, born in Beith on February 13, 1893, married Sarah Ann Dawson on June 27, 1913 in Kilburnie, Ayrshire.  They had children, including a son John, who signed his father’s death certificate on October 23, 1953 in Cadder, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  Matilda Douglas was born in Beith on April 13, 1895.  She married Andrew Boyd in Beith on December 31, 1914 and had at least one child, a daughter named Matilda who died in Cadder on March 19, 1931 at the age of 1 year.  Matilda Douglas Boyd died in Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland on July 24, 1956.  Mary Douglas, born in Beith on April 17, 1898, married Thomas Meharry on April 27, 1918 in Blythswood, Glasgow, Scotland.  Mary died on November 5, 1949 in Cadder.  They had at least one child, a son named William who died in Cadder on April 12, 1922 at 8-1/2 months old.  William Douglas was born in Beith on December 6, 1899, and married Annie Meharry (Thomas Meharry’s sister) in Lochore, Fife on July 17, 1925.  They had at least one child, Jane Brady Douglas born about 1928, who died on February 19, 1947 in Cadder.  William died in Bishopbriggs, Dunbartonshire, Scotland in 1992.   His wife Annie died there in 1983.  The fifth child was Jane Douglas.  She was born in Beith on December 3, 1902.  Her sister Janet was born in Beith on August 2, 1904.  I have no marriage or death information for Jane, and Janet died in Beith on January 26, 1907.  As Jane is the diminutive of Janet, I suspect Jane may have died at birth or shortly afterwards, but have no records to substantiate my supposition.  The last child born was Sarah Douglas.  She was born in Beith on February 18, 1906.  Sarah married William Thomson on December 28, 1923 in Possilpark, Lanark, Scotland.  I have no records of their children, but Sarah died in 1972 in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire.  The Douglas’ seem to have remained in Beith until after the death of John William in 1916.  After this date his wife Jane and the four oldest children can be found in Cadder.  I can only suppose work was easier to find in Lanark than in Beith.  John William had been a stone cutter, so presumably was fortunate to make a good living, but after his death it must have been difficult for his widow Jane.

I’d like to say just a word about which children I’ve chosen to identify.  I’ve decided to only identify by name those children who can be found in publically available records.  Each country or state has privacy laws, and they differ from place to place.  If an identifying record is available online, then individuals on that record are included in this book.  That is why some children born within the last 100 years in Scotland are included, while others are not.  Those children who were born within the term of local privacy laws and are identified by name here either signed a death certificate that is publically available, witnessed a marriage that is publically available, or themselves died and their death certificate is publically available.  If it’s necessary to send for an extract from the public records office in order to conclusively determine an individual’s parentage, whose birth is covered by privacy laws, I have not identified that person by name here.  For instance, if a child was born with one of the family names as a middle name, in an area where I know family lived, I could be fairly certain that child was born to that relative, but I’d have to send for the extract to be certain, as the birth occurred within the last 100 years in Scotland.  Having received the extract I would know it to be a fact, but still would not name that child here, because of that person’s right to privacy and the fact that he/she showed up on no other identifying public record since his/her birth.  If the birth was outside the date set by local privacy laws and I haven’t named them, it’s because I just didn’t know about that individual.

The fourth child of James and Matilda Bready was William Bready.  William was born on August 16, 1873 in Beith, Ayrshire.  He married Jane Muir on May 20, 1895 in Blythswood, Glasgow.  I don’t believe they ever had any children, and William died in Beith on November 13, 1943.  His wife died just over a year later on January 17, 1945 in Stewarton, Ayrshire.

Next was James Bready.  He was born on February 15, 1877 in Beith, and married Jane Watt King in Beith on December 28, 1905.  I don’t know if they had any children, but James died in 1956 in Paisley, Renfrew.  His wife Jane died two years later in 1958, also in Paisley, Renfrew.

On February 22, 1879, Thomas Bready was born in Beith.  He died just over a year later on Jun 22, 1880.  Another son, also named Thomas, was born in Beith on May 27, 1881.  This Thomas died as well, on February 15, 1883.

Arthur was Matilda and James’ eighth child.  He was born on March 2, 1884 in Beith.  Arthur married Jane Walker in Beith on July 15, 1910.  He died in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire on May 7, 1947.   I have no record of their children – his brother John signed his death certificate.

John Bready was born in Beith on September 11, 1886.  He married twice.  His first wife was Janet White.  They married in Beith on August 16, 1912 and had a son James in 1914.  James died on August 12, 1917 in Beith at about two years old.  Janet died on Mar 7, 1921 in Beith.  John then married his first wife’s sister Mary White in Beith on September 19, 1924.  John died at the age of 70 on June 5, 1957 in Beith.  His son John signed his death certificate.

The last child of James and Matilda Bready was a daughter named Matilda.  She was born in Beith on September 27, 1890.  She married John Graham in Blythswood, Glasgow on August 15, 1913, and she died on October 22, 1948 in Hillhead, Glasgow.   Matilda had an adopted daughter named Elizabeth who signed her death certificate, but I have no idea when or to whom she was born, or how Matilda came to adopt her.

© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2010.

James had 5 siblings.  The oldest child of Thomas Bready and Sarah McComb was Joseph Bready.  He was born on October 19, 1861 in Bentham, Yorkshire, England and named for Thomas’ father.  He married in Fall River to Hannah (Emma) E. Bowler on July 3, 1888.  They had six children: George T. Brady, born October 24, 1889 and died April 14, 1897 (when he was 7-1/2 years old) in Fall River of a fractured skull (I can just picture this little boy falling from a tree he’d maybe climbed, and his parents’ anguish); Gertrude Brady, born February, 1893 in Fall River; Joseph, Jr., born December 30, 1895 in Fall River; Mabel, born on April 4, 1899 in Fall River; Emma E., born June 1, 1900 in Fall River; and Eleanor, born on July 24, 1901 also in Fall River.  There is no birth record for Joseph, Jr. but there is one on the same day for an Edward Brady born to the same parents.  I assume that Edward is really Joseph, Jr. and the name was never officially changed.  There seems to be a lot of that in the Fall River Bradys.  Gertrude is living at home in the 1900 census, and it is this data that I have gotten her birth date from.  I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for her on the website I normally use, that of the New England Historical Genealogical Society, or NEHGS, at http://www.newenglandancestors.org/.  This is another fee-based site, but again, I find it to be excellent, and worth the cost.  In the 1920 census, Gertrude is still living at home, and working as a weaver in the mill, but by 1930 she has left home.  Either she married or was deceased by that date.  It would be extremely unusual for her to be off adventuring as a single woman in those days, although she may have in later years.  Joseph, Jr. married a woman named Beatrice between the 1910 census and the birth of their son Frank G. Brady on December 20, 1918 in Fall River.  Joseph, Jr. was living at his sister Eleanor’s home in Fall River when he registered for the WWII draft, however, though whether Beatrice and Frank were also there I don’t know (although he listed his sister Eleanor (Mrs. John M. Christensen) as next of kin and not his wife).  Frank died on December 15, 1977 in Fall River.  I have no idea if he ever married or had children of his own.  The three youngest girls (Mabel, Emma E., and Eleanor) were living at home in 1930.  I found a death record for Emma Brady with her birth date in the SSDI on May 1968, so assume she never married, and know that Eleanor died in Jan 1991 and was survived by at least one child, but I have no further information for Gertrude or Mabel.

The second child of James’ parents was John Bready.  He was born in Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland on October 17, 1863.  He evidently died, as another son was given the name John in later years.  I haven’t been able to locate the family in the 1871 census, and suspect they may have been in Ireland then, so I can’t verify if this John was living then.  There is no death record in Scotland for him, so either he died shortly after birth or he died somewhere other than Scotland.

James was the third child.  The fourth was named Thomas, after his father.  Thomas was born on July 13, 1868 in Clifton, Bramham, West Yorkshire, England.   He married Gertrude Nichols in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts on January 1, 1901.  They had four children, all born in Rehoboth: Milton Thomas Brady, born on March 21, 1903; Frederick Everett Brady, born on October 10, 1905 and who died at the age of 23 on February 16, 1929 in Rhode Island; Gertrude N. Brady, born on December 20, 1906; and Edward Clayton Brady, born on Jun 8, 1911.  I suspect Gertrude’s middle name was Nichols, for her mother’s maiden name.  Edward died on May 22, 1996 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but I have no idea of any marriages or children Thomas’ children may have had.

Thomas and Sarah’s fifth child, and the only daughter, was Sarah Ann Bready.  She was born in Ireland in 1872.  The 1900 census gives her birth month as February, but there is no record of the day.  The family is in Habergham Eaves, Lancashire in the 1881 England census prior to their immigration to the United States, where Sarah is listed as born in County Down, Ireland, in the village of Comber.

Sarah married Albert Henry Taber on April 10, 1893 in Fall River, Massachusetts.  Their first child, Ellis Albert Taber, was born on April 18, 1895.  They had a second child, George Leonard Taber, born on June 30, 1900 who died less than 2 years later on May 21, 1902.  Sometime after George’s death and before the 1910 census, the family moved from Fall River to Seattle, Washington.  By the 1920 census, they had moved to Los Angeles, California.  Ellis married in California, sometime after he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 when he listed himself as single, and they had a son Ellis Albert Taber, named for his father and born on August 24, 1918.  That Ellis also married and he had at least three children, including a set of twins.  Albert Henry Taber died on May 22, 1940 and Sarah was known to have remarried, though I have no record as to whom, or when.  Consequently, I have no death date for Sarah, as I have been unable to find the record.  I tried searching the California death records through Ancestry, but I found no matches for Sarah, born February 187*, in Other Country, with mother’s maiden name of McComb.  It’s possible the family lore is wrong and she died before Albert, but without the 1940 census I can’t be sure.  So for now it remains one more mystery to check back on in future years.

James Bready’s youngest sibling was the second John.  By 1874 the family had returned to Scotland from Ireland, and John was born in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire on April 16, 1874, although the 1900 census erroneously gives his birth as May 1873 in England.  Fortunately, I was able to locate the birth record in Scotland to clear up any confusion.  I suppose it’s possible there was ANOTHER John born in England in May 1873 who died before this John was born, but I’ve found no birth record to support that possibility.

John married twice.  His first wife was Mary or Margaret Conley, Connelly, or Canole, known as Mamie, and they were married in Fall River, Massachusetts on May 28, 1896.  Mamie gave birth to three children: a son on August 25, 1896, a daughter on February 12, 1898, and another son on April 12, 1899.  All were stillborn, and Mamie died in childbirth with her third child.  Interestingly, I came across a transcription of a newspaper clipping from the Fall River Daily Globe for Saturday, February 15, 1890.  It reported on the fourth annual ball of the Fair Play Athletic Club.  The director of the ball was none other than this same John Brady, and in attendance was his future wife Mamie Connelly, as well as his brother James, my ancestor.  John’s second wife was Honora M. Sullivan, called Nora.  They married on June 25, 1900 in Fall River.  John and Nora were blessed with 5 children, all born in Fall River.  The oldest child was Ellen G. Brady, and she was born on February 2, 1901.  Next came John J. who was born on January 6, 1903.  He is present in the 1910 census, living at home.  Mary V. was the third child.  She was born on September 21, 1905.  The fourth child is a bit of a mystery.  His birth record gives his name as Daniel T. Brady.  He was born on August 21, 1907, and he died on July 18, 1908 of cholera infantum.  However, on his death record his name is given as John J. Brady, though his age at death is given as 10 months, 27 days, which certainly identifies Daniel as the child that died. His father was the informant of the death, and it seems odd that he would state the name of the wrong child.  But John J. is clearly in the 1910 census, and Daniel is clearly not, so in his distress at losing yet another child John must have given the wrong name for the death certificate.  The last child, George F. Brady, was born on June 10, 1909.  I have no record of marriages or children for John and Nora’s children, though I have seen records for some of their deaths in the Social Security Death Index.  John died between the 1910 and 1920 census, as Nora has the surname Barlow in 1930 and is living with her son John and daughters Mary and Ellen (erroneously listed as Helen G. Beary) in Fall River.  In fact, all the children are transcribed on Ancestry with the surname Beary.

Just a quick word, here – while researching your ancestors, when you find a transcription error (as you most certainly will) please take the time to submit a correction to the database!  It takes so little time, but will benefit those who follow.  Most databases allow some form of error reporting, and it really is a mitzvah to help others by correcting transcription errors when you find them.

Again, I would like to take a moment here and praise the Social Security Death Index, which is another invaluable resource.  It can be accessed through both NEHGS and Ancestry accounts.  There have been times when I’ve been able to locate a date of birth here, if the name was uncommon enough and I was sure I had the correct record for a death.  I actually prefer the Ancestry access, as they also have some more recent state death records, making it easier to cross-reference and identify the correct person when the exact date of birth is not known.  On occasion, the wrong birth date is recorded in the death certificate, so it’s important to go back and search for the birth record, once you have the date.  For instance, Thomas Stewart Brady’s state death record lists his birth as being in 1889, but the actual birth record gives it as 1891, as does the SSDI record.  However, the SSDI record gives only the month and year of death, while the state record also includes the day.  It’s important to find the original source record, if at all possible.

© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2010.