Using the criteria explained in ‘More on Brother 2’, I started examining a restricted number of Irish born Stanley men called Michael, James or Patrick on the 1861 census for Lancashire. One individual stood out. Living at 23 Court, Paul Street, Liverpool is Michael Stanley, a dock labourer. He was born in 1835 in Roscommon. All of the others on the list merely state Ireland for their place of birth. Some of them might have been born in Roscommon, but it seems logical to start with the most promising lead. Michael is the brother-in-law of Thomas Redington and his wife Catherine. They were both born in Roscommon. Their three children (Catherine, Patrick and Mary) were all born in Liverpool between 1853 and 1859.
As the map shows, they lived in a densely populated area of the city. In this respect there are distinct parallels to the fate of the people who ended up in Dewsbury.
There is no record in England of a marriage between Thomas Redington and Catherine Stanley. There is no record in Ireland either. On the grounds that far more records from that time are missing from Ireland than England, it seems likely that the marriage took place in Ireland.
I looked at other census returns. The couple are present in 1851 and 1871. Dates of birth for both of them vary dramatically. Thomas was born in 1804, 1811 or 1814 or perhaps none of these years! Catherine had no children in 1851, but was already 50. Ten years later she is only 30, but has three children. (I have, I admit, assumed that it is the same couple.) By 1871 she is 50 again, but with two of the same children still living at home. Their years of birth only vary by one year in each case.
I found another Roscommon born Redington on the 1851 census. This is James, born 1810. He is married to Betsy with a daughter, Catherine, who was born in Liverpool in 1839. Their migration predates the Great Famine. There are 39 people called Redington in Liverpool in 1861 who were born in Ireland. Perhaps James and Betsy were the pioneers.
This is all good circumstantial evidence. I have a Catherine Stanley and a Michael Stanley, both of whom were born in Roscommon. Their ages fit. The Christian names are ones that commonly feature in the family tree. But, and it is a very big ‘but’, this is circumstantial evidence. I will need someone descended from the Thomas and Catherine Redington marriage with a DNA match to prove my suspicion.