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Matthew (2) Livesey was born in 1821 to parents Richard (1) Livesey and his wife Ellen Walmesley. He was born on February 22nd and was christened - with sponsors Henry Bolton and Margaret Howarth - on March 1st of the same year at St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Wigan [St. John's Register of Baptisms 1811-1821]. He is presumed to have been named after his deceased brother Matthew (1).
The 1841 Census finds him living with his parents and siblings in Vauxhall Gardens in the St. George district of Manchester, and occupied as a dyer.
He married Mary Taws by Banns at Manchester Cathedral on June 5th 1846 [Marriage Index: Manchester 20 587, 1846 (June)]. The register describes him as a bachelor and dyer of full age residing at Collyhurst (in outer Manchester), and her as a spinster of full age residing in Cable Street. His father was a labourer and hers, Alexander Taws, was a tailor. Both parties made a mark in place of a signature. The witnesses were Alexander (perhaps her father) and Margaret Taws (presumably her sister who married Thomas (1) Livesey).
A study of Alexander's life was published in 1996 by M. F. Tighe [Journal of the Anglo-Scottish Family History Society, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1996].
The family has not yet been located with complete certainty in the 1851 Census. However, a family that fits well appears in a transcription of a flood-damaged record, wherein the ages of the head and wife (forenames illegible) are given fairly accurately as 31 and 28. This family's address was 1, No. 2 Court near Cable Street in the St. George district. The head was occupied as a dyer and the wife's birthplace was Ireland. With them were two children with ages transcribed as 7 and 11. The younger of these is believed to have been a child Peter (1) produced illegitimately by Mary before she married. The older child was named Richard and is believed to be Richard (3), his true age of 4 being apparently misread as 11. The two boys were christened together in 1846.
The 1861 Census finds Matthew (2) at age 40 living with Mary and four of their children at 58, Stonehewer Street in the St. George district, and occupied as a warehouse porter. His birthplace is given correctly as Wigan but Mary's incorrectly as Manchester. Her age is given as 38. Their surname is entered as "Livsy".
The 1871 Census finds Matthew (2) at age "49" living with Mary and six of their children at 43, Fielden Street in the St. George district of Manchester, and occupied as a warehouseman. The record gives his birthplace as Wigan, and Mary's as Fermoy in Ireland. Her age is given as 48. Also in the household was Mary's widowed mother Elizabeth Taws, aged 71 and born in Chester.
The 1881 Census finds Matthew (2) at age 60 living with Mary and three of their children at 31, Silver Street in the Newton district of Manchester (corresponding to today's Newton Heath near Collyhurst), and occupied as a warehouseman. The record gives his birthplace incorrectly as Manchester, and Mary's as Ireland. Her age is given as 57.
The 1891 Census finds Matthew (2) at age 70 living with Mary and their two daughters Mary Ellen and Alice at 17, Gorton Street in the St. George district. He was occupied as a sorter. The record additionally notes that he had diabetes. Alice was still unmarried, but Mary Ellen had by now married into the Naylor surname, although her husband was not in the household. However, with her were two children William M. Naylor aged "8" and George (2) Naylor aged "6", the former born in Manchester but the latter born in Eccles.
He appears to have died later in 1891 aged 70 [Death Index: Manchester 8d 257, 1891 (June)].
Benjamin (1) may have died in infancy [Death Index: Manchester 8d 244, 1858 (Sept)].
The 1901 Census finds Alice A. (1) at age "35" living at 33, Lower Russell Street in North Manchester with her widowed mother Mary and brother Matthew (3), and occupied as a cotton baller.