Three of their sons were killed in action in WW I, their eldest son was killed in a rowing accident in 1895, and their three daughters all emigrated. So this post is about the daughters; Annie and Isobel Keay. If you want to skip all the "ifs & buts" and hop to what I can be fairly certain about...just scroll down to the end of this post.
But for information about Margaret Keay, the middle daughter, go to this post.
{There are many people online who have kindly offered help in researching this material, as I found the data was not as accessible as British data. I pass on the favour by helping other genealogists with their searches, so it all goes around, eh? Many Thanks to all.}
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First of all, Annie & Isobel:
We knew that Annie & Isobel emigrated to Canada. There are records of the Passenger Lists to Canada, immigration records, and also the Canadian Census are available. There are many entries for various different Ann and Isobel Keays, but it seems that some fit much better than others. Several of the records required the immigrant to give details of a close relative...very helpful!
In one case, the named relative is an Aunt Isobel Keay...I do know that their father had a youngest sibling Isabella (born 1869 in Perth).
ISOBEL KEAY (born ~1884)
Isobel or Isabella was the youngest of the 3 daughters. In 1901, Isobel was a Tailoress aged 17, living at home with her parents in Perth.
Isobel Keay was found in several passenger lists in the following years.
1907: On the S.S. Caledonia, in May 1907 from Glasgow to New York. The Immigration Service records the admittance of Miss Isabella Keay, (aged 23, born Perth, Seamstress/ Machinist). She was described as 5' 1" tall, Fair, with brown hair & blue eyes. It also records that her ultimate destination is her sister Anne in Toronto; Anne Keay's address was given as Brommel House, 935 Seventh West, Toronto {Very difficult to read.}. That's just a short hop from New York, of course.
1921: An Isobel Keay travelled from Canada back to Glasgow. She had a 2nd class ticket from Montreal to Glasgow on the "Saturnia" (Anchor Line), arriving 30/6/1921.
She recorded that she has been living in Canada but gives her address as Dalginross, Comrie. (Her mother Mary was living there at that time, though she died in 1923.)
She is a Dressmaker, aged 36 {born ~1885}.
From a record filled in by her sister Margaret Dick in 1926, we know that Isobel Keay was living at The Hydro, Peebles, at that time. She was presumably working there (I found some interesting images of The Hydro through a search of SCRAN - click here to repeat it).1927: From the sailing in June 1927 of the S.S. Athenia from Glasgow to Quebec. {The S.S. Athenia was also part of a decisive moment in WW II.} The forms are very informative, and her entry tells us that Miss Isobel Keay (43 - so born ~1884), was born in Perth, trade was Linen Keeper. She travelled Cabin Class. The form also records that Isobel has previously been resident in Canada - Beatrice St. Toronto, from 1907 to 1921 {That Fits!!}, and that she has a passport issued {in Ottawa, on a not very legible date - looks like 1925?}.
Her destination in 1927 was the home of her sister Miss Annie Keay, Upper Canada College, Toronto. When asked to give the name of her nearest relative in Scotland, she gives her Aunt, of 61, King's Park Rd., Cathcart, Glasgow; Isobel Keay. {Any Aunts of hers in Glasgow would've been an Innes, I would think?} See this map for Cathcart - it's the South of Glasgow.
1938: Also an Isobel Keay (aged 55 {so born ~1883}, single, a Hospital Housekeeper, born Perth) who is listed as travelling from Glasgow to New York on the "S.S. Tuscania" in September 1938. She has previously lived in Toronto and by now she is described as a Canadian citizen. She tells us that she intends to reside in Canada, and that her previous UK address was 61, King's Park Rd., Cathcart, Glasgow (her Aunt's house again).
1940: An Isobel Keay entered America at Buffalo, N.Y. on Xmas Eve, 1940. Sadly the card record is pretty unreadable, and sparsely detailed anyway.
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ANNIE KEAY (born ~1874)
Anne was the oldest child of John & Mary Keay. She was born in Irvine, Ayrshire. We know that she was living with her parents in Perth in the year 1891, when she worked as an Ironer. I haven't yet found an entry for Annie Keay in the year 1901, so I don't know where she lived then.
Some possibilities;
- Perthshire born Annie Keay (25) boarding in Bickley, Kent - working as a Laundress, domestic servant. She has a friend in the form of another Perthshire laundress, and the wife of the household was a Scot. {best guess so far - it seems she liked to travel!!}
- Ann Keay (23) living at Marybank, Logiealmond, Perth in 1901. Not our lass though, as she was born in Madderty and was then married to the Mason, Robert Keay. X
- Mrs Ann P. Keay (28) living in Claverhouse, Forfarshire. Married to David Keay, a Coachman, with 2 bairns, born Forfarshire X.
- Lanarkshire-born Ann Keay (wife of Robert), in Dundee. X
- Ann Waddell Keay, 32, curtain-finisher, born Renfrew, living at 285 High St., Perth. X Not this lass, as she's the daughter of Shoemaker James & Mary Keay. {not John Keay's brother James.}
She is described as 29, born in Ayrshire. Single. Domestic by trade. Height 5'4", fair with brown hair & eyes.
{In 1907, Isobel recorded that her sister was a resident of Toronto.}
1911 Census of Ontario, Canada: the free-to-view site (which I was shown by someone on Rootschat) has shown me an Isabel Keay. She was a Domestic for a young couple, aged 24 {so born ~1887; not quite right for our Isobel} - in Toronto North, Kendal Avenue.
No suitable entries for Ann Keay in the 1901 Census. Toronto Trade Directory (1918) here.
1936: In the 1927 records for Isobel's journey, she gives her sister's address as Upper Canada College, Toronto. (Upper Canada is the old term for what we'd now call Ontario.) I found this lovely bright website for the modern college (an Independant Boys' School) and the mention of archives there encouraged me to write to them asking if they had staff records from the period. I'm very grateful to the archivist, who replied:
"There is a record of Annie Keay as an employee at UCC circa 1936. She worked in the Tuck Shop, which is the place where students would go to get snacks and school supplies (a favourite place of the boys for certain!)"What a lovely thought! Annie would have been in her early 60's then.
I found some nice pictures about Tuck Shops, (just for a bit of fun...click here and here).
1938: There is also an Ann Keay who traveled Greenock to Quebec in 1938, aged 45 {but far too young for our lass}.
Find out more about the middle sister, Margaret Keay who married & emigrated to America - click here.
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Here's The Bit You Were Looking For...
So, in summary, we know the following:
The parents of these ladies were John Keay (dyer, 1848-1905) and Mary Innes Keay (died October 1923) of Perth. The dates of their deaths may help pin down some of the movements of their daughters?
Annie Keay - born in Irvine, 1874. She was the oldest child of John & Mary Keay. In the 1891 Census she was an Ironer, living at home with her parents. By 1901 she had moved out; don't know where.
Annie may have been in Toronto before {no records in the Canadian 1901 Census}, but we first see records of her journeys in the year 1906 when she has travelled from Glasgow to Montreal (heading for Toronto). {That would be just after her father died.}
We know from her sister's records that Anne is living in Toronto in the year 1907.
In 1910, she travelled to New York. She may have been recorded in the 1911 Ontario Census, in Toronto North - working as a domestic.
We know from her sister's records that Anne is living {presume working} in an Independant School in Toronto in the year 1927, and we also know from College records that she was working there in 1936.
Isabella Keay - born Perth, ~1884. She was a Tailoress still living with her parents in the year 1901, being the youngest daughter.
She travelled to New York, and then on to Toronto in 1907, to join her sister Anne and work as a Seamstress.
In 1921, Isobel Keay travels back to Glasgow.
In 1926, we know Isobel was living/working at The Hydro, Peebles.
In 1927, Isobel went back to Canada, travelling to Quebec. By then her nearest relative still in Scotland is her father's sister (Isobel Keay, of Cathcart).
And again in 1938, Isobel travels back to Toronto after a visit to Scotland. She has Canadian Citizenship by then.
So quite a few details there - but I've been unsuccessful so far in a search for:
- Records in the 1901 Census for Annie Keay.
- Records of when these ladies died (only available up to the year 1937 yet)
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Further Reading
An article you can read here lists 13 reasons why folk emigrated - not a decision lightly taken.
Also interesting to see the resources available, here, on Steamship passages across the Atlantic in this period.
gjenvick.com: This site has copies of Dinner Menus from several liners of the period, and interesting articles on topics such as Stowaways.
If you were to emigrate, where would you go?
Click here to find out more about Perthshire Amber Music Festival, based in Pitlochry; a good reason to return!!
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