I'd appreciate your help!

[lorry53]

I have a friend in the US who has been trying to find information on her great great grandfather, but I haven't had much luck so far, so I thought I'd turn to the experts. Here's the info I have:

Richard Hillary
b. 28 Apr 1839 in Lincolnshire. d 1901
Emigrated June 1871 and was naturalised in 1897 (Pennsylvania)
Married Mary Murray b. 1840 d. 1925
They had 6 children: Fred, Frank, Peter, Katheryn, William, George & Richard.

There are stories of him being in one of the guards regiments and also of him standing for election (and losing) in his 20s.

I have found records for a Richard Hillary from Dorset, but nothing for Lincolnshire. I've also found records with the misspelling of Hillery in US records.

Any help would be most appreciated.

[margaretmarch]

Lorry53,
have you any idea of where in Lincs he was born?
Margaret

[Breckland Jane]

Were Richard & Mary married in UK or US?

Jane

[margaretmarch]

Were Richard & Mary married in UK or US?

Jane

Jane,
Looking at the 1880 US census transcript on family search.org it looks like wife Mary was born in NY so I guess the marriage was in US. Here's the transcript.
Richard HILLERY Self M Male W 39 ENG Laborer ENG ENG
Mary E. HILLERY Wife M Female W 30 NY Keeping House IRE NY
Fred HILLERY Son S Male W 5 PA ENG NY
Frank HILLERY Son S Male W 3 PA ENG NY
Nellie HILLERY Dau S Female W 2 PA Pa ENG NY
John HILLERY Son S Male W 1M PA ENG NY
Margaret

[kylejustin]

Mary E. HILLERY Wife M Female W 30 NY Keeping House IRE NY
Margaret

wouldnt ire mean ireland?

[lorry53]

Lorry53,
have you any idea of where in Lincs he was born?Margaret

I'm afraid not.

Were Richard & Mary married in UK or US?
Jane

I assume the US as she was born there.

Jane,
Looking at the 1880 US census transcript on family search.org it looks like wife Mary was born in NY so I guess the marriage was in US. Here's the transcript.
Richard HILLERY Self M Male W 39 ENG Laborer ENG ENG
Mary E. HILLERY Wife M Female W 30 NY Keeping House IRE NY
Fred HILLERY Son S Male W 5 PA ENG NY
Frank HILLERY Son S Male W 3 PA ENG NY
Nellie HILLERY Dau S Female W 2 PA Pa ENG NY
John HILLERY Son S Male W 1M PA ENG NY
Margaret

This is Mary in the 1880 US Census:
Name: Mary E. Hillery
Age: 30
Estimated birth year: <1850>
Birthplace: New York
Occupation: Keeping House
Relationship to head-of-household: Wife
Home in 1880: Bridgewater, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Spouse's name: Richard Hillery
Father's birthplace: IRE
Mother's birthplace: NY
Image Source: Year: 1880;
Census Place: Bridgewater, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania;
Roll: T9_1196;
Family History Film: 1255196; Page: 61.4000; Enumeration District: 117; Image: 0124.

This shows her as having been born in 1850 and not 1840 as I've been told.

[lorry53]

wouldnt ire mean ireland?

Yes, but that refers to her father.

[margaretmarch]

lorry53,
Here's a copy of an email I received when enquiring about Richard Hillary standing for election.
from: david@election.demon.co.uk
Sorry to report but a thorough search finds no-one of that name who was a candidate in a Parliamentary election. I checked for all reasonable variations of the name.

It is possible that "standing as a candidate" may not mean actually being nominated, as in this period it was quite common for people to begin to canvass for votes at an early stage before an election, but later drop out due to the financial expense or to the better political organization of their opponents. Their names would not appear in the election results because they had already dropped out.

The only candidate with the surname "Hillary" was Albert Ernest Hillary, who was a Liberal. Defeated at Barnard Castle in Durham in the 1918 general election, he was MP for Harwich from 1922 to 1924 when he lost his seat. There is accurate biographical information in his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ernest_Hillary.
Hope this helps.
Margaret

[maudarby]

Hi
A bit more info from the 1900 US census. Richard born April 1839, emigrated in 1860, married 25 years (c1875) 8 children, 7 still living.
Moggie

[margaretmarch]

Hi
A bit more info from the 1900 US census. Richard born April 1839, emigrated in 1860, married 25 years (c1875) 8 children, 7 still living.
Moggie

Oh that's interesting. Lorry53 has it that he went to US in 1871.
Margaret

[lorry53]

Thank you for your efforts, Margaret and Moggie, I really appreciate it. Something tells me the info I'e been given is somewhat off target!

[margaretmarch]

Might be worth asking if the marriage certificate is available for Richard and Mary, that way you might see who his father was and thus able to locate him in the UK census. There are as you know some likely candidates but the Lincolnshire bit is getting in the way.
Margaret

[maudarby]

Thank you for your efforts, Margaret and Moggie, I really appreciate it. Something tells me the info I'e been given is somewhat off target!

Hi
It just might be that the "official" information is wrong. I have just found the death cert of a distant relation in America in 1940. It says he was born in Yorkshire--- wrong because he was born in Norfolk. It says his mother was Mary Ann ---wrong his mother was Elizabeth.
Moggie

1900 census
Just spotted that it says "No" in the column re Naturalization.

[lorry53]

Might be worth asking if the marriage certificate is available for Richard and Mary, that way you might see who his father was and thus able to locate him in the UK census. There are as you know some likely candidates but the Lincolnshire bit is getting in the way.
Margaret

I took out the Worldwide sub today, so I'll trawl it for anything else. I'm trying to find out where the info re Lincolnshire came from.

Hi
It just might be that the "official" information is wrong. I have just found the death cert of a distant relation in America in 1940. It says he was born in Yorkshire--- wrong because he was born in Norfolk. It says his mother was Mary Ann ---wrong his mother was Elizabeth.
Moggie

1900 census
Just spotted that it says "No" in the column re Naturalization.

Oh joy. They don't make it easy, so they?

[margaretmarch]

The marriage cert is going to be your best bet on this one I think.
Margaret

[lorry53]

I think you're right, Margaret.