Individual Details
Margaret BUTLER
(25 Jan 1840 - Prob 30 May 1889)
Margaret and Thomas were twins. Margaret's baptismal sponsors were Isaac Fairbrother and Elizabeth Fairbrother.
At the time of the 1861 census, Margaret was working as an embroideress.
The 1871 census has a 31-year-old London-born Margaret Butler, listed as a religious sister at the Poor Clares convent on Cornwall Road in Kensington. I believe this Margaret is our Margaret above. The same Margaret Butler is listed again at the convent in the 1881 census and it appears she died at the age of 49 at the same convent on 30 May 1889. Her death ertificate tells us she died of 'Cancer of Breast' and 'Exhaustion' and, surprisingly, describes her as a 'Gentle-Woman' rather than a nun or similar.
Jennie Hannigan (née Butler), a granddaughter of Margaret's brother George, has recalled hearing of a relative (identity unknown) who was a sister in an enclosed order in London. Apparently this nun became seriously ill but the order could not or would not pay for the medical treatment necessary, and when George - or his son who was also named George - learned of this he offered to pay for the medical treatment but this was refused by the convent. George (whichever one it was) somehow managed to collect her from the convent, place her in his carriage and drive her to his home where she received the medical attention she needed and she made a good recovery. According to Jennie she never returned to the convent and became George's housekeeper instead.
Jennie's story suggests that her relative was indeed the Margaret Butler of the Poor Clares convent and also would explain why Margaret died as a 'Gentle-woman" rather than a nun. She must have returned to the convent during her final illness to be cared for by the sisters there.
At the time of the 1861 census, Margaret was working as an embroideress.
The 1871 census has a 31-year-old London-born Margaret Butler, listed as a religious sister at the Poor Clares convent on Cornwall Road in Kensington. I believe this Margaret is our Margaret above. The same Margaret Butler is listed again at the convent in the 1881 census and it appears she died at the age of 49 at the same convent on 30 May 1889. Her death ertificate tells us she died of 'Cancer of Breast' and 'Exhaustion' and, surprisingly, describes her as a 'Gentle-Woman' rather than a nun or similar.
Jennie Hannigan (née Butler), a granddaughter of Margaret's brother George, has recalled hearing of a relative (identity unknown) who was a sister in an enclosed order in London. Apparently this nun became seriously ill but the order could not or would not pay for the medical treatment necessary, and when George - or his son who was also named George - learned of this he offered to pay for the medical treatment but this was refused by the convent. George (whichever one it was) somehow managed to collect her from the convent, place her in his carriage and drive her to his home where she received the medical attention she needed and she made a good recovery. According to Jennie she never returned to the convent and became George's housekeeper instead.
Jennie's story suggests that her relative was indeed the Margaret Butler of the Poor Clares convent and also would explain why Margaret died as a 'Gentle-woman" rather than a nun. She must have returned to the convent during her final illness to be cared for by the sisters there.
Events
| Birth | 25 Jan 1840 | 1 Francis Court, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London | |||
| Death | Prob 30 May 1889 | the convent of the Poor Clares, Cornwall Road, Kensington, London | |||
| Christen | St. Patrick's Church, Westminster, London |
Families
| Father | George James BUTLER (1795 - 1870) |
| Mother | Margaret Lucy MEADE (1802 - 1868) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth (Eliza) Mary BUTLER (1828 - 1864) |
| Sibling | James Bernard John Edward BUTLER (1830 - 1892) |
| Sibling | Susan BUTLER (1831 - 1850) |
| Sibling | George Patrick BUTLER (1834 - 1911) |
| Sibling | Robert BUTLER (1836 - 1902) |
| Sibling | William Isaac BUTLER (1838 - 1888) |
| Sibling | Thomas Aloysius BUTLER (1840 - 1885) |
| Sibling | Mary Ann BUTLER (1844 - 1902) |