Merseyside Biography Pages
Annie Garvey
Annie Garvey is an old Liverpool character mostly remembered these days through an Edwardian colourised postcard that shows her at her hut at the Pier Head. The postcard includes the following text:-
"A LIVERPOOL CELEBRITY,"
ANNIE GARVEY-A maiden lady, Aged about 100 Years-who has lived on the Dock Estate for 80 years, and in this hut
since the burning of the "Landing Stages" in 1874, and on the Estate before any Landing Stage was built at all.
ANNIE GARVEY-A maiden lady, Aged about 100 Years-who has lived on the Dock Estate for 80 years, and in this hut
since the burning of the "Landing Stages" in 1874, and on the Estate before any Landing Stage was built at all.
Annie Garvey came to the attention of the Liverpool newspaper "Porcupine" who claimed to have discovered her in June 1905. Since then kind well-wishers had rebuilt her wooden hut and showered her with numerous gifts to supplement her precarious income. The 1911 census does indeed show Annie Garvey at "Hut" on George's Pier Head, Liverpool. Her age is recorded as ? 86. Her occupation: keeps small shop. Industry: confectionary etc. She was employed at home and under her own account. Birthplace was recorded as County Armagh but the exact location appears difficult to read and may be in an abbreviated form or be an attempt by the enumerator at writing an Irish placename that he found difficult to understand. Part of the appeal of Annie's story was that she was thought to be a centenarian. Two different narratives run side by side around this time with some saying she was over 100 years old and the opposing narrative saying she was much younger, perhaps in her 80s. When she died in 1914 at Liverpool Workhouse's infirmary, William Bray, the governor, registered her death as Annie Garvin and gave her age as 107 years. This was despite her apparently telling the institution she was 86 when she was admitted according to newspaper coverage of her death. Let's have a closer look at Annie Garvey's background and see what more we can find out about her from genealogical records.