Was in Liverpool Archive Library the other week and asked a bloke looking lost by the Microfilm machines I was sitting at, if he needed help?
He explained he was from Middlesbrough, but found he was adopted in the 1950s and had been born in Bootle.
He (John Patrick Maynard) and his Wife had travelled over to see the "Terracotta Warriors" on display at the Museum next door,
but their Booking was not till after lunch, so he thought he would try some Ancestry Research in the Archive Library.
He explained he had tried some research a while ago, and knew from a copy of his Birth Certificate,
that he was born at 51 Balliol Rd, Bootle. in 1952
To which, I replied, so was I, in 1949
was able to show him a photo of it, from Bobhamo and advise him of the Bootlehistory web site.
He was "Gobsmacked!"
Things got even more weird when he pulled out some paperwork.
His Mother had been born Mary O'Neill on 5/2 /1928 at 93 Canterbury Street, Everton
her Mother was a Mary O'Mahoney and Father Thomas O'Neill
and she married his Dad James Leslie Maynard in Bootle in 1946
He stated they lived on Rimrose Rd before splitting about 1954 and putting him up for Fostering/Adoption
He knew his Mother had a Brother and had a Hymn Sheet for the Wife's Funeral, (Emma O'Neill), which showed a photograph on the front of her,stating the years of her life.
To which , - I replied , I know her, was her Husband your Uncle named Hugh or Hughie O'Neill ?
To which, he asked, " Yes, but , How would you know that ?"
To which, I replied, " Because, Hughie O'Neill was my Dad's best friend and drinking partner after work on the Ashphalt, and my Mum sat with Emma regularly when they met at weekends at The Strand/Stand Park Pub off Sterrix Lane, because we lived in Randall Drive, they lived at 6 St George's Grove behind the Pub off Poulsom Drive which was a continuation of Randall Drive.
We exchanged Emails and I said I would see what I could find when ever back in Liverpool and I was free to research.
Anyone any ideas about O'Neills, O'Mahoneys or Maynards living in that area in that period ?
Bootle Times News
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