Mary Jane Doherty

(c1838 - 1923)

Mary Jane Doherty was born circa 1838 in Ballyarnett, near Derry in north west Ireland. Her parents were John Doherty (a farmer born in Burt, Donegal) and Margaret Watson. Although Mary Jane is thought to have come from a large family, little more is currently known about her early years in Ireland.

In 1857, Mary Jane left Ireland and on 18 May that year married Richard Bailey Caulton Wakelen at the Presbyterian Church in Woolwich, Kent. While a soldier in the Cameron Highlanders (1843 - 1855), Richard had done at least one tour of duty in Ireland, so it is possible that the couple met during that period.

Between 1858 and 1877, the couple had ten children - six boys and four girls.

By 1861, Mary Jane was living with Richard and their two small children at Knaphill Invalid Convict Prison near Woking, Surrey. Ten years later they were still there, with a further five children.

Shortly after 1871, the family relocated to Isle of Wight, where Richard worked as a convict warder at Parkhurst Prison in Carisbrook. The three youngest Wakelen children were born on the Isle of Wight between 1873 and 1877. By 1881, still at Parkhurst, Richard and Mary Jane were living with the five youngest, which included my great grandfather, Ernest William Wakelen.

By the time of the census in 1891, Richard had retired and the couple were living at 2 St Leonard's Terrace, Portsea in Hampshire. By then the five oldest boys had joined the army and the four girls were either married or in service. Only the youngest child, Arthur, remained in the family home (until following his father and brothers into the Cameron Highlanders in early 1892).

Still in the Portsmouth area, in the 1901 census Mary Jane and Richard were listed as visitors at the St Andrew's Road home of widow Elizabeth Hall (who was also born in Ireland and is suspected to be an aunt of Mary Jane's).

At the age of 72, ten years after the death of husband Richard and only a few weeks after the sinking of the Titanic, Mary Jane Wakelen took a trip across the Atlantic to visit her daughters who had settled in the USA.

She sailed from Southampton on the SS Oceanic on 29 May, arriving at Ellis Island less than two weeks later on 9 June 1912. According to the ship's manifest, Mary Jane was 5'5" tall, of dark complexion and in good health. She had paid for her own ticket, had at least $50 in her pocket and had never been to the USA before.

We don't know how long Mary Jane stayed on in the USA, but she did return to the UK and ended her days at 36 Daisy Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham (the home of her youngest son) on 31 December 1923.

She was 85.

She was buried on 4 January 1924 in Lodge Hill Cemetery in Birmingham (section D16 grave number 573).

The inscription on her grave reads:
"In memory of MARY JANE WAKELEN,
died 31 December 1923 aged 85 years"

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