To show that the Esther Radcliffe who had an illegitimate child in 1851 wasn’t the same person as the ER who was JR/S’s mother:

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Using the census indices:

1841

RADCLIFFE Esther 40 Andreas 1463/1 75 5
RADCLIFFE Esther 20 Castletown 1464/5 4 1
RATCLIFFE Esther 15 Marown 1464/6 19 7
RADCLIFFE Esther 12 Malew 1464/4 43 3

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1851

RADCLIFFE Esther 49 Andreas 2524 59 32
RADCLIFFE Esther 35 Castletown 2526 170 89
RADCLIFFE Esther 23 Peel 2523 126 178
RADCLIFFE Esther 22 Ramsey 2524 389 132
RATLIFFE Esther 21 Malew 2526 74 96
RADCLIFFE Esther 19 Marown 2523 282 43

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In 1851, James Radcliffe/Skelly’s mother Esther Radcliffe b 1815 (daughter of Thomas Radcliffe and Esther Quine) was a 35yr old servant in Castletown.

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Elsewhere in Malew was “the other Esther Radcliffe” age 21 who subsequently gave birth to Eliza Radcliffe (the child who was “received into the congregation 25 Dec 1863, having been privately baptised in 1851”) --- and whose abode was Ballagarey.

Following her through the censuses (her parents were Thomas Radcliffe and Esther Cretney):

1851
Cronk e brew (next to Ballagarey), Malew

Name Age
Thomas Ratliffe 54
Esther Ratliffe 52
Cathrin Ratliffe 32
Esther Ratliffe 21
Ann Ratliffe 17
Elenor Curphey 6
Isaballa Currin 76

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This Esther Radcliffe married James Patty in Malew in July 1853.

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1861
Knockreamy, Malew

Name Age
James Patty 43
Esther Patty 29
Thomas Patty 7
Eleanor Mary Patty 4

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1861
Esther Radcliffe’s 1851-born illegitimate daughter Eliza was with her maternal grandparents, Thomas Radcliffe and Esther nee Cretney, at Knock E Brew, Malew, age 9, listed as Eliza Sayle.

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1871
St Marks Inn, Malew

Esther Patty widow 38 Inn Keeper b Malew

Next door to:
Esther Radcliffe widow 75 Mantua maker b Malew
Eliza Sayle grdau unm 19 servant b Malew

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Back to Esther Radcliffe b 1815, mother of JR/S b 1842:

1871
Castletown Road, Great Meadow, Malew

Name Age
Thomas Moone 59
Emma Moone 49
George Moone 17
Emma Maria Moone 15
William Charles Moone 13
Sarah Cotteen 70
Ester Radcliffe 52
Isabella Kelly 32
Elizabeth Callow 25

ER 52 unmarried dairy maid --- and in the right hand column is “deaf & dumb” with a cross on it.
In household of Thomas Moore, farmer of 350 acres.

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In 1881, Esther was a 63 yr old unmarried labourer, Chapel Lane, Castletown. She died in 1883.

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As for John Skelly, father of JR/S b 1842, I suspect that he was the 20yr old in this household:

1841
Queen Hithe St, CT

Robert Skelly 60 fisherman
Catherine 40
John 20
Margaret 15
Mary 12

Robert Skelly died in 1845.
I think that Cath 40 was his second wife---she was widow Cath Maddrell when they married in 1835. I think she then married widower Wm Bridson in Malew in 1846. They were on Queen St, CT in 1851 (ages 60+57) and 1861 (ages 72 and 65)---Wm a shoemaker

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There’s no easy way of knowing whether the other 3 occupants of the 1841 household were Robert’s children or grandchildren or nephew/nieces --- or whether they were Cath’s (Maddrell) children wrongly listed with their step-father’s surname.

Going back to the 1851 James Skelly, (nephew age 9, with Samuel and Leonora Quine), your discovery (that they were next door to Esther Radcliffe’s brother James’s family) is very interesting. I wonder whether the census official may have spoken to the 2 households together and picked up the “nephew” relationship for James Skelly (because he was James Radcliffe’s nephew) but wrongly assumed that he was Samuel and Leonora’s nephew ?

Having said that, I think I may have discovered a tenuous link between Leonora Quine nee Baxter and the 60 yr old Robert Skelly (head of the 1841 household where the 20 yr old John Skelly was living). Leonora’s mother was Leonora Baxter alias Skelly nee Corlett b circa 1753 (she died Jan 1831 age 77). Her first husband was Robert Skelly/Skeally (married 31 March 1781 Malew, Robert “of Kk Michael”) but the Malew burial register shows that he died in Sept 1781. His will is summarised in Frances’s Manx Note Book:

“Malew 1781-2 E w SKEALLY Robert d 3 oct 1781;c'town;bro john;wife leonora als curlet exex”

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Link:
www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/famhist/willsums/index.htm

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I can’t find any evidence that Leonora had a child from that marriage, so I’ve been looking at the John Skelly, brother, mentioned in Robert’s 1781 will.

I think that John married Ann Caralagh in Malew 21st Aug 1779 (familysearch has “Shealey” for the image version) ---- JS of Castletown, AC of Braddan.

They had several children, including these two:

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Robert Skealey

Event Type:ChristeningEvent Date:01 Apr 1782Event Place:Malew, Isle of ManGender:MaleFather's Name:John Skealey • EditMother's Name:Ann Carailagh • Edit

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John Skeeley

Event Type:ChristeningEvent Date:11 Jun 1780Event Place:Malew, Isle of ManGender:MaleFather's Name:John Skeeley • EditMother's Name:Anne Carailagh • Edit

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I think that John b 1780 may have been the John Skelly who married Mary Maddrell in Marown 1st Nov 1808 (his shaky signature shows the spelling Skelly).

Robert b 1782’s first marriage may have been to a Miss Fell (2nd Oct 1803 Malew)---Margaret Fell at marriage, but several children subsequently born to Robert Skeally and Esther Fell in Malew 1804-15. An Esther Skeally died of cholera in Malew, buried 10 Oct 1832 age 52. This would fit with Robert widower marrying widow Cath Maddrell in Malew in 1835. So was this the 60 yr old fisherman on Queen Hithe St in 1841 (with 20 yr old John Skelly) ?

All of the above is just conjecture at this stage and needs examining carefully. Some people may describe this type of speculation as “the scattergun approach” but others enjoy the detective work, and occasionally it breaks down brick walls.

Jean C