isaac mallandaine + caroline north
by Albert Bierstadt
Shortly after the death of his second wife, Jane Cook, Isaac married Caroline Keane in the Bahamas in 1869.
Caroline was the daughter of Henry North, a Butcher, and his wife Catherine Butler and she was born at sea en route to the Bahamas about 1846. She was previously married to a man named Keane and had one son, Alfred born about 1867.
Isaac and Caroline welcomed their first daughter, Ellen Pauline, on 17 February 1870 in Nassau and as she was born less than six month's after Jane’s death, it seems that Isaac began his relationship with Caroline while still married. From Ellen’s birth onwards, the family adopted the spelling Mallandaine and used it consistently in all subsequent records. Isaac was posted to the Bahamas for 3 years and 9 months and by 1873, they had returned to England and were living in Sandown on the Isle of Wight where son Sydney Arthur was born on 6 February; he was baptised in nearby Yaverland on 27 April.
Isaac was promoted to Colour Sergeant, a rank commonly given to long serving sergeants, on 30 September 1874 and not long after, the family returned to Kent and were living in Chatham, the home of the naval dockyards, where Alessandra was born on 17 April 1875. Isaac was re-admitted to the Old Brompton Kent Freemason’s lodge but he did not pay his dues beyond 1876.
Isaac had served in the army for 20 years and 355 days and at the age of 55, he chose to retire rather than re-enlist for another term. He was discharged at Gosport in Hampshire on 13 November 1876 and was granted a silver medal for long service and good conduct as well as gratuity pay of £5, the equivalent of over £3500 today. On his discharge papers, he was described as being 5’ 5" tall with hazel eyes and grey hair and stated that his intended place of residence was Oldham in Lancashire.
The family did return to Lancashire but to Salford rather than Oldham. They were living in a house at 35 Bigland Street when daughter Gertrude Florence was born on 26 September 1877; she was baptised at St Bartholomew on 24 October and at the time, Isaac was working as a Clerk. Two years later, Isaac appeared in Slater’s Directory of Manchester & Salford at 84 Bigland Street and he also appears in the business section at 31 Bigland Street operating as a Shopkeeper. Charles Albert was born on 15 October 1880 and baptised at St Bartholomew on 2 January 1881 and when the census was taken the following year, the family was still living on Bigland Street. Isaac was listed as a Chelsea Pensioner and in addition to his five children with Caroline, his two youngest sons from his second marriage, Walter and William, and Caroline’s son Alfred were also living with the family.
Isaac’s eldest son from his second marriage, Alfred, had joined the army and was serving as a Sergeant in the 30th Foot Regiment at Knellar Hall in Twickenham. Twenty year old daughter Emma Jane was living nearby in Moss Side and working as a General Servant for the Blaikie family while eighteen year old Mary Isobella, also in Moss Side, was working as a Nurse Domestic for the Steele family at 87 Cecil Street.
The family later moved to 20 Tatton Street where Isaac died of heart disease on 1 April 1884. On his death certificate, his occupation was listed as Bookeeper and Army Pensioner but in later records of his children’s marriages, his occupation is listed as Commercial Traveller and Timekeeper so it appears he worked at a number of jobs after leaving the army.
Two years later, Isaac’s daughter Emma died at 36 Lansdowne Road in Didsbury on 7 May aged only 25 years. The cause of death was recorded as ulceration of the stomach with anemia and perforation of stomach 24 hours. It appears that Emma had a stomach ulcer that ultimately perforated the stomach wall causing the contents to leak into her abdomen. This would have resulted in a serious infection, peritonitis, severe abdominal pain and ultimately death. Her brother Walter registered her death three days later and gave his address as 21 Darley Street.
Following Isaac’s death, Caroline moved to 20 Oxford Street and on 25 October 1890, she remarried to James Holden at St Bartholomew in Salford. He was six years younger than Caroline and serving in the Cheshire Regiment as a Bandsman; at the time of their marriage, he was living at the Salford Barracks. In 1891, Caroline and James were still living at 20 Oxford Street along with her son Alfred Keane, although he was listed as William, and her four youngest children — Sydney, Alessandra, Gertrude and Charles. James’ occupation was listed as Musician in the census return but there was no mention of the army so he may have left after marrying Caroline.
In 1901, Caroline and James were renting four rooms at 43 Doddington Street and he was still employed as a Musician. Only her daughter Gertrude remained at home and she was working as a Confectioner’s Assistant. James died in Salford in 1905 and by 1911, Caroline was living with her daughter Alessandra and her family a few doors down at 49 Doddington Street. Caroline died in Salford in the fall of 1926 and her death registration includes the initial E which does not appear in any other records.
Mary Isobella, Isaac’s daughter with his second wife Jane Cook, was working as a domestic servant in nearby Eccles in 1911. She had been working for the Forbes family at Manor Heath on Victoria Road for at least ten years. On 29 June 1913, banns of marriage between Mary and Harold Ashton were published in Flint, North Wales but the couple ended up marrying in Eccles. Harold was born on 29 July 1878 and was 15 years younger than Mary; he lived in Flint at the time and as many wealthy merchants had summer homes in North Wales, it is possible he met Mary when she travelled to the area with the Forbes family. In 1939, Mary and Harold were living at 25 Borough Grove in Flint and Harold was working at the Courtauld Rayon Factory as a Rayon Roller Foreman. Courtauld opened their first factory in Flint in the early 20th century and their operations soon expanded to four sites employing more than 10 000 people. Mary Isobella died in Flint in 1952, aged 89 years, followed by Harold in 1955.