EMILY LAYE

FAMILY HISTORY: DWYER LAYE FAMILY 

    A BIOGRAPHY  

INCOMPLETE NEED TO REVIEWED/REVISED PERHAPS

Emily Laye was born 11 September 1848, the day her 36 year old mother, Anne Maria Teresa Walsh, died in Douglas, Isle of Man and was buried Braddan Church cemetery, 14 September 1848."Anne was baptized Catholic, September 11 1848- on her deathbed. Hence it makes sense the children were baptized Catholic, and some re-baptized, probably due to a deathbed promise.   Her father, Captain Francis Fenwick Laye, worked on the island in service to the crown. Her six older brothers and sisters, Mary Ann, Francis and Henrietta were born in Ireland, while the others, Henry Airey, Maria Josephine Louisa and Frederick were born on that Manx isle with her. Captain Laye, from an Anglican family, converted to Catholicism sometime around the time of his wife's death and Emily was baptized at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Douglas 0n July 19, 1847, though she did not seem to later practice that faith.[All dates from church seem to be consistently off about a year]. 

 The Captain took his children and moved to Berwick in Northumberland, near the border of Scotland. In 1851, the now Major Laye, with his children, lived with his 73 year old mother, Mary Laye (Airey), widow of some 23 years of General Francis Laye of the Royal Artillery. Major Laye, 43, was engaged to Anne Robertson, and married her the following year at Berwick. Emily was four years old at her father's wedding. That marriage lasted about a year, with the probable death of this second mother with the 'Anne' name-sake. Her father married soon after this, to a  woman half his age, Elizabeth Patricia Ramsay, a wealthy author and would-be- artist. The two left for Australia, for gold and adventure, planning never to return, and leaving the children behind, probably with his mother, Mary Airey Laye. They returned unexpectedly in 1861, eight years later.  [Documenting soon either way, if this is true- PP June 2001].

In 1868, Emily's father was a 60 year-old retired major, a granddaughter of a general, niece of General J.H. Laye, and related to a good number of other officers such as her cousin Captain J. H.Laye, who would married a year later and fight in the Zulu War ten years later. On the 4th of April, at Portchester, Emily married Ensign William Blennerhassett Simpson Brown Dwyer, the son General Thomas Peard Dwyer of the Royal Marines. That family as well had a long military tradition with many officers then serving. 

But the 19 year-old Emily may not have been married in the best of circumstances. Emily had a child Louisa and soon another, Mary Ann Sinclair, at sea off Jamaica, by 1869. Unusual was the fact that Dwyer, by 1870, was retired from the military, as an ensign, odd in context of being from a family of generals. Their lengthy trip at sea to the East Indies suggests they were given money to disappear on a long honeymoon. 

As if in exile, in 1870, Dwyer, the general's son, worked in Detroit as a "drayman" possessing $200 with Emily as all their worldly goods. Emily, 22 years old, listed herself as "Emilie" in the census. The household consisted of herself, her husband, her two children and a 33 year old white servant woman named Mary Jasrio, who had been a servant for them in Jamaica. There is an oddity, in this couple near the poverty line, yet having a servant that they paid fare and provided for from the Caribbean. One can almost read between the lines of an anxious mother or mother-in-law of Emily, making a concession to pay in advance for the services of a servant for the sake of their grandchildren. It is to be wondered too at any tension and complication of having "competition" in the form of a 33 year old servant living with them. (Though this situation is stranger sounding to us where the concept of a live-in servant is alien).

 By the age of 26, Emily had two more children, William Lambert Blennerhassett and Dora.. (The first born, Louisa, died sometimes in these early years). In 1875, Emily was pregnant again, but sets sail across the Atlantic back to the British Isles, with William it is assumed. What was the purpose of their visit? Was it a vacation, an attempt at reconciliation or some softening from the other side? Did they come into money? In the city directories, there is no occupation listed for Dwyer, who perhaps was given an allowance to live as a gentleman. Unknown was where they visited other than Edinburgh, where Emily gave birth on the 18 January 1876 to St Hugh Toulmin Gerald Dwyer, my great grandfather. He was baptized at St John's Episcopal Church in the parish of Corstophine.Note- as of 22-04-01, I am of the opinion that Emily's father died and this was where the money was from and the reason for her trip- perhaps he was slowly dieing. Emily stood to gain much inheritance- and perhaps it was the money that helped ruin her marriage.   

The couple returned to Detroit where Emily, 29, gave birth to Ramsay in June of 1877. [A contradiction to this is Hugh DWYER's 1900 Census response- born Dec 1876 Scotland- came to USA 1882- a whole lot changes if this is true. Why did he report 1882??? But Hugh's birth is recorded as having taken place in Detroit -Sep 1878 - 2 years after the fact. Perhaps this was the year they returned. William Lambert is also report in Nov 1878- years after he was born -1873. There are contradictions and discrepancies-obviously they were born in the UK and since William and Emily never became naturalized, they had to dummy the paperwork later]. The name Ramsay was in honor of her father Francis' third wife, Elizabeth Patricia Ramsay, an interesting and wealthy woman in her own right, who wrote and published books based on her world travels in places such as Australia, and dining with the natives. Within a few years the marriage crumbled and Emily and William were divorced. It is unfair to conjecture for any reasons, but an educated guess is that at least one element may have been Emily's fondness of drink-(conjecture on my part!) or her new found wealth.

William remarried in 1882 to a Cornelia Moran, and Emily married a John Prince of Detroit.  William and Cornelia starting a farm in Macomb county and listed himself as a "capitalist." William later moved back to Detroit, and seemed quite stable. In reference to him and in obituaries, one reads about him as a retired "lieutenant" or "captain" the inaccuracy articulating a certain sense that he should have been more. 

John Prince's family background and his contrasting lifestyle to that, mirrored Emily's own life, and that of Dwyer's. Prince's grandfather was Colonel John Prince, the rumored illegitimate son of William IV and Dorothea Jordan, an actress, (which Prince denied). The Colonel was famous for the Battle of Windsor and the Detroiters who placed an $800 bounty on him dead or alive. Emily's husband was also a cousin to Albert K. Prince of Windsor, who married Emily's daughter, Mary Ann Sinclair Dwyer. Prince was nine years younger than Emily, and lived a lifestyle characterized by having some new occupation each year, the last being a newspaper reporter. He died at the age of 31 from chloroform administered by Dr Hal C. Wyman for a bladder condition that needed surgery. (His mother referred him to this doctor with regard to the condition of his heart. The doctor saw nothing, administered the chloroform and he soon collapsed. Emily was 40 when he died. Read in Ohio newspaper account that still after six says, John Prince ws not buried-- that family insisted he was still alive-- that his skin tone etc was still normal. (!!).-- I read that Dr. Wyman was quite a celebrated doctor in Detroit, and founder of a medical center. Having Dr. Wyman meant family had the best  at the time.

Emily married John and lived on at 314 Porter for the next four years, then later with her children. On 23 August,1896, at 48 years old, Emily died of an "enlarged liver."  Emily's cousin also died of liver problems- indirectly. (Not necessarily drinking! Ref: "Cirrhosis of the liver is a common condition of many tropical countries, and numerous authorities have asserted that some cases are caused by repeated attacks of malaria ...’; in that paper he included a figure which he claimed demonstrated monolobular biliary cirrhosis- a result of repeated attacks of malaria, which had compressed and consequently injured the biliary system."   Both were in the tropics). Her children worked humble jobs, but later found themselves in respectable and important positions, such as William Lambert who became a Detroit police inspector. She was buried at St John's Episcopal Church in Windsor. In keeping with this family's century old penchant having old surnames as first names and middle ones, my grandfather, her grandson, was Laye Blennerhasett Dwyer, and my aunt Noreen Laye Dwyer (Potts).       Pat  Paskiewicz

A Fresh Angle – Another Possibility

Probable that Emily LAYE was in the UK 1873 -1878 and possibly up until 1882. I think she was separated from William, her husband, during that time. She may have even gotten divorced there.

  John Prince

Hugh DWYER’s marriage certificate shows as his father "Lambert Dwyer." –Lambert is William’s brother, Capt Lambert DWYER. Possible? Wild, circumstantial evidence only, but possible. Emily was over there at this time!  I have always assumed William's assertion of "Lambert" being his father was a mistake, since have seen many errors on documents, esp death certificates. But this would be a mistake made by a 21 year man about the identity of his father. Lambert is not a common name. The clerk would not simply assume this name, but Hugh had to provide it. Why?  –Perhaps it was a nick-name- but odd nick-name, adopting name of brother. Consider that on Hugh’s Edinburgh baptism certificate, his father is listed in the following fashion: "William B Dwyer, Late, Lt Ret"  [NO IT DOESN'T -CLOSER examination shows it is a fancy "RA" -Royal Army. The "Late" can have a variety of meanings, as former.  PP 7-1-01]. One more tid-bit of evidence. Kathleen McMahon, in a letter years ago, wrote to me that her mother, Dora Dwyer McMahon, stated that her father, Hugh Dwyer, used to get and envelope from England with large amounts of money- from "Bertie" Dwyer (Lambert?) (But there actually was a Bertie DWYER, Bertie being a surname, of a wealthy family). Hugh, in particular, seemed to have more money than the rest of the family. He had his own detective agency for years and was, with a wife, known to go to many parties.     Looks like in 1890 Hugh was clerk for Evening Sun, no doubt where John Prince was a reporter.

   William B. DWYER old age     As young c 1869

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