Mary
Magee and the Crescent Hotel
There
has long been a story in the family that my 3x great grandmother Mary
Magee owned the Crescent Hotel in Douglas, Isle of Man. She was said
to have bequeathed it to another branch of the family. Despite verbal
evidence from older members of the family there are no hard facts to
support this. There is not any paper trail linking Mary to the hotel.
Mary’s only connection with it appears to be through her executor
George Mullin. Although in 1889 a newspaper reported that Mary Magee
was in dispute over a Permit for a Common Lodging House in Lord
Street. In 1909 following her death George applied for Probate
stating that he was a licensed victualler of the Crescent Hotel. The
1911 Census shows George as a coach builder still living at the
hotel. His wife and other members of his family are involved in the
day to day business of running it. In 1901 he was the licensed
victualler of the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Douglas. In her Will Mary names
the wife of her eldest son as her sole beneficiary. The Will does not
give details of Ann’s inheritance. Why if Mary was bequeathing
something as substantial as a hotel did she not name it? She only
said that her son William was to have no claim on his wife’s
inheritance.
Mary(maiden
name Walsh) had married her husband William Magge in Douglas in 1838.
They were both born in Ireland. Their names appear on every Census
for Douglas after that date. Namely Back Street, Kelly's Court and
Tynwald Terrace. Records
at www.imuseum.im
show that they owned dwelling houses and premises in Tynwald Terrace.
The Crescent Hotel is never mentioned.
In
1888 a
newspaper article shows that Mary
was
prosecuted for a traffic offence. She
was a car proprietor and
had neglected to show lights on her cab. For this she was fined five
shillings with costs or face six days
in prison.
This “car”
she
probably
inherited from her husband. Various members of the
family were similarly employed. By 1891 she was receiving Poor Relief
and living at 4 Back Strand Street. Later she moved to 10 Bridge
Street, the family home and business premises of her son William. I
initially thought she may have left
Ann her personal possessions to thank her for the care and support
she received in old age.
The
Isle of Man Museum has records of the deeds for the Crescent Hotel
during this period. These show details of assignments and probate.
Along with the deeds being used as a bond and security. Ownership of
the hotel is carefully catalogued. Neither Mary Magee or George
Mullins are mentioned.
Going
through the newspapers available at www.imuseum.im
I discovered the reason behind the terms of the Will. Mary
put her mark to her Will on 19th March 1901.This coincides with
reports of the financial difficulties of her son William. He like
many other businessmen and traders suffered when Dumbell’s Bank
collapsed on 3rd
February 1900. On the Isle of Man this day became known as Black
Saturday. The bankers who had allowed the bad debts to accumulate
were jailed. William was himself declared bankrupt around 15th
April 1901 with some of his property being sold to clear his debts.
Many
business
men
like
William Magee who
were
not
able
to get loans
from another source were
made
bankrupt. Like his parents before him William had used the deeds of
his properties as security for loans. In
making Ann her sole beneficiary Mary was
protecting
her possessions from William’s creditors. If
she had not made a Will her property could
have been divided amongst her children. Meaning William's creditors
would have been entitled to his share.
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