Jane Fairtlough

It is said[1] that Jane Fairtlough (or Fairclough) came from a wealthy Protestant family and ran away to marry a poor Catholic boy, Patrick Brown.  Jane was just 16 years old and Patrick was about 17.[2]  The next day her father, a squire, rode up to the Brown house and demanded to see Jane. He asked her if she had been married, and if she had not, all could be forgiven. Jane told him that she was married. The squire did not say another word, but just rode away and never saw her again.

The story goes that Patrick’s family gave the couple a small piece of land and a few animals so Patrick could supported his family. They settled in Stamullen parish, County Meath, Ireland. The couple had four daughters (Mary Ann, Rose, Ellen and Elizabeth) and a son (Patrick). The son may have died in infancy, as the only record so far discovered in which he makes an appearance is his baptism record.

Patrick (Jane’s husband) died, possibly around 1853, and sometime not long afterwards Jane was able to raise enough money to emigrate with her four daughters. Oral history suggests her in-laws were not sad to see her go and may have contributed to the cost of passage just to be rid of her. The Browns came to Massachusetts and settled in Roxbury.

Jane was likely receiving a little money each month from her mother back in Ireland, but it was not enough to fully support the family and the daughters all found work as house servants. At some point the money stopped arriving, possibly because Jane’s mother had passed away. Jane died soon afterward, on 29 March 1864 at the age of 48, and was buried in Brookline, Norfolk County, Mass.

 

[1] As recorded in “How Ellen Brown Starkey Moore Came to America” from A Brief History and Genealogy of the Moores and Their Families, 1635-1942, by Helen Fish.

[2] English law required a woman to be 21 years old to marry without her parent’s permission, but at that time the Catholic Church would marry a girl as young as 12 and a boy as young as 14. The priest who married Jane and Patrick made a note in the parish register that he had permission from the Vicar General to perform the ceremony.