How did a young single woman from Ireland pick up and move from one side of the world to the other in the 1880s? and how did her adventure turn out?
Great-grandmother Nora (nee Deely) Spencer was born in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland around 1860. On several Canadian documents produced when Nora was an adult, Nora gives different dates for her birth. She may not have known her actual birth date, or she may have changed it according to her need at the time. She was about 11 years older than her husband, so this may be one reason!
Most of Nora’s records in Canada list her parents as Ann Flavin and John Daly, and for a long time I could find no records for these people. But in early 2021, I saw a record hint in FamilySearch, and it led me to some suggestions for records for this family with the spellings of Anne Flahavan and John Deeley. Spelling was variable in that era. This family had several children, including a Nora, two Mary’s, a Patrick and a Bridget. I later found the original records in RootsIreland, another genealogy site. Nora’s baptism records were there!
When Nora was in her early twenties, and unmarried, she moved to Canada. Her sister Mary came to Canada as well, and remained a single career woman for the rest of her life. Mary was a dressmaker until she retired a couple of years before her death. For decades Mary lived with her sister’s family. The two must have been very close.
The two sisters came to Canada in the early 1880s. Nora may already be in Chatham in 1881 because a 21-year-old “Nora Daly” shows up in the Canada census 1881. Nora is boarding with Mrs. Ann Verrall and living next door to a Michael Flavin (age 54), a Catholic pensioner born in Ireland. Is it just a coincidence or could this be a relative of Nora’s mother Anne Flahavan/Flavin? Was this someone who could help them settle in, or maybe even sponsor their trip?
Ten years later, in the 1891 census, a Nora Daly shows up again, working as a weaver in Chatham and living as a lodger. Then the following year, in the 1892 Chatham Directory, Nora “Deely” is living at 20 Church St. Also, Mrs. Frances Richards is living at 20 Church St so Mrs. Richards must be Nora’s landlady.
The directory listing also shows that Nora is working at Woolen Mills. The only “Woolen Mills” listed in the directory is T.H. Taylor & Co. at 14 William Street. Built in 1869, it is a designated heritage site. Today it is occupied by offices.
For a decade, Nora lived and worked as a single woman, earning her bread, in Chatham. Around the early 1890s, Nora met another Irish immigrant called Joseph Spencer. They were both living on Church Street, Nora at 20 and Joseph at 17 Church – close neighbours! They were soon to become something more. Joseph and Nora married on June 13, 1894. Joseph is listed as a blacksmith. His religion was Church of England and Nora was Catholic. Nora is listed as being 22 but it’s likely she was actually 34.
The couple eventually had 3 children. The first, Anne Marie, born 18 Apr 1895 died on 23 June 1898 at 3 years old of laryngotracheal stenosis. Their second child was my granddad, Garnet Joseph Spencer, born 12 July 1897. And the third was Mary Margaret, born 15 June 1900.
These are some photos of Nora in her later years.
The family continued to live on Church Street for many years. It wasn’t the greatest neighbourhood. On the one side is a jail and the other side is a factory spewing fumes. The street no longer exists so I was only able to track it down by looking at historic maps of the era.
In 1916, the family finally moved to their own house on 157 Stanley Ave. It was a modest home but lovely and it still stands on a tree-lined street, a short walk from downtown and their former residence.
Nora died in Oct 1944. Since she was born in 1860, that would make her 84 years old, not 74 as it says in her obituary below. She left behind her husband, two adult children, and grandchildren.
**SPECIAL THANKS to my cousins for sharing their photographs!
Guylaine Spencer 