Catherine Martin (née Riley, 1853-08-17 – 1938-01-24) was my matrilineal great-great-grandmother. Born in Clifton, England (unlike her siblings who were born in Cardiff, Wales), she was the daughter of Daniel Riley and Ellen Donovan, immigrants from County Cork, Ireland. She immigrated from Wales to America sometime after 1871, and married Robert Martin on 1876-07-31 in Medford, Massachusetts, and had five children, including my great-grandmother Martha Martin.
She was baptized at St. Mary on the Quay in Clifton, Bristol, England. Her baptism record:
Die 17 Augusti 1853 nata et 18 Augusti 1853 baptizata suit Catharina Riley filia Danielis et Helenae Riley (olim Donnivan) Conj. Patrinus Thoma Fitzgerald et Matrina Maria Broderick a me Gulielmo Knight Miss. Apos.
On 17 August 1853 was born and on 18 August 1853 was baptized Catherine Riley daughter of Daniel and Ellen Riley (formerly Donnivan)….
It is not known why she was born across the river in Bristol rather than in Cardiff like her siblings. Perhaps her parents were temporarily living there.
The American federal census asked on several occasions for immigration information. She generally reported that she immigrated in 1873 and became a naturalized citizen in 1876, although I have not found records for either of these events.
Many of my relatives have a tradition that her maiden name was Catherine Taylor. The origin of this substitution is unclear. It dates back some decades; the death certificates of her daughters Martha (✝1977) and Eva Genevieve (✝1983) both list their mother’s maiden name as Catherine Taylor.
The Taylor phenomenon even extends back a generation. Catherine’s sister Annie (✝1919)’s death record lists her mother's maiden name as Ellen Taylorref, instead of Donovan, but correctly lists her father as Daniel Reilly (spelled thus).
It is possible this was some sort of provisional occupational surname, as some of the family worked as tailors in Cardiff. However, it’s not used in any other context, so it remains mysterious how these transformations happened.
She had 5 children with her husband; see his article for the list.
Not much is known due to the sparsity of Irish records.