Hi Sue and KayN
Yes, Ann Kelly nee Unknown's age of 31 in 1851 did rankle, but I'd dismissed it by assuming that she could have been born before Robert Shimmin and Margaret Crebbin's 1821 marriage and baptised afterwards. However, your suggestion, that Ann was the illegit daughter of Mary Shimmin, looks much better.
I've been playing about with census entries and going off at tangents. This is quite a challenging family ! I'll list what I've got, including some of the entries already listed, to see them all together.
*********************************
1841
Malew 2a/6
Malew St
Thomas Shimmin 76 tailor Y
Anne 70 Y
Anne/Annie 20 Y
Ellen Holmes 40 Y
Ellen Hamilton 12
John Shimmin 14 E
single slash
Robert 45 rope M Y
Anne 30 Y
Robert 15 tailor ap Y
Christian 10 Y
Thomas 10 Y
***********************
1851
Malew 2b/13
35 Malew St
Robert Shimmin head mar 55 ropemaker
Ann wife 44
Thomas son unm 20 ropemaker's ap
Christian dau unm 22 dressmaker
Elinor Holmes aunt unm 55 school mistress
Elenor Hamilton niece unm 21 house servant
all b C'town
******************************
1851
Malew 2b/13
36 Malew St
John Kelly head mar 28 ag lab
Ann wife 31
John son 2
Sophia dau 9
all b Castletown
****************************
1861
Malew 1a/27
Malew St
household 147
Robert Shimmin head mar 64 ropemaker
Ann wife 54 b Douglas
Thos son unm 29 ropemaker
Thos grson 9
single slash
Ellinor Holmes head (aunt crossed out) unm 64 labourer
Ellen Hamilton niece unm 30 labourer
Sophia Barlow niece mar 18 soldier's wife
Martha A Barlow niece 4 months
all c C'town except Ann Shimmin
***********************
Looking for a marriage of the Mary Shimmin who was the mother of the 1820 born Ann Shimmin:
Possibly this one:
****************************************
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN SANSBURY Pedigree
Male Family
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Event(s):
Birth:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages:
Spouse: MARY SHIMMIN Family
Marriage: 28 JUN 1834 Malew, Isle Of Man, England
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messages:
Extracted marriage record for locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the marriage date.
******************************************
1841
Thos Shimmin 35 farmer Y
Wm 30 farmer
single slash
Jn Sansbury 30 fisher Y
Mary 40 Y
Cath 5 Y
Eliz 3 Y
Marg Quirk 17 Y
*************************
1851
Malew 3a/25
Bowling Green
John Sansbury head mar 40 sailor
Mary wife 53
Catherine dau 15 dressmaker
Elizabeth dau 13 scholar
Thomas Shimmin brother in law unm 46 sailor
Margaret Quirk niece 25 dressmaker
all b Malew
**********
next door:
William Shimmin head mar 39 farmer of 45 acres b Malew
Eleanor wife 27 b Malew
************************
1861
Malew 2b/10
Derbyhaven
John Sansbury head mar 50 mariner
Mary wife 65
Elizabeth dau unm 23 milliner
Thomas Shimmin lodger unm 54 mariner
Catherine Sansbury (sic) dau mar 35 (sic) dressmaker (should be Cath Curphey 25)
Thomas Curphey son in law mar 26 mariner
Thomas Curphey grandson 3
Margaret Curphey granddaughter 1
all b Malew
********************************
1871
Malew 2a/16
no 17 Derbyhaven
John Sansbury head mar 60 mariner
Mary wife 70
Thomas Shimmin brother unm 60 mariner
Catherine Curphey dau mar 30
Thomas Curphey gson 12
Maggie gdau 10
Catharine gdau 8
Bessie gdau 6
James gson 5
all b Derbyhaven
**********************************
The question is --- is this Mary Sansbury nee Shimmin, who appears to have 2 brothers, Thomas and William:
a) the mother of illegit Ann Shimmin b 1820 who may be the Ann who married John Kelly ?
b) the daughter of Thomas Shimmin and Ann Holmes, making her a sister of Robert Shimmin b 1796 ropemaker, and a half sister of Eleanor Holmes b 1791 ?
Thomas Shimmin and Ann Holmes did have a William b 1810, but their Thomas was b 1798. This is my main sticking point, unless the 1798 Thomas had died young and another Thomas was born later. However, there's not much space to fit him into an appropriate slot amongst all the other children of TS+AH, and the same applies to a Mary (no IGI entries for a Mary or an additional Thomas ) So I'm flummoxed, and I fear that this might all be a red herring.
Jean C