Mary Burns (29 September 1821 – 7 January 1863)Whitfield, Roy (1988) ''Friedrich Engels in Manchester'', Working Class Movement Library, was a working-class

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

woman, best known as the lifelong partner of

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, England. She met Engels during his first stay in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, probably early in 1843. It is likely that Burns guided Engels through the region, showing him the worst districts of Salford and Manchester for his research for ''

The Condition of the Working Class in England ''The Condition of the Working Class in England'' (german: Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England) is an 1845 book by the German philosopher Friedrich Engels, a study of the industrial working class in Victorian England. Engels' first book, ...

''.Irving, Sarah. (2010-03-15
Frederick Engels and Mary and Lizzy Burns , Manchester's Radical History
Radicalmanchester.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 2014-02-20. Mary Burns was the daughter of Michael Burns or Byrne, a dyer in a cotton mill, and of Mary Conroy. The family may have lived off Deansgate. She had a younger sister named Lydia (1827–1878), known as “

Lizzie Lizzie or Lizzy is a nickname for Elizabeth or Elisabet, often given as an independent name in the United States, especially in the late 19th century. Lizzie can also be the shortened version of Lizeth, Lissette or Lizette. People * Elizabeth I ...

", and a niece named Mary Ellen Burns (born 1859), known as "Pumps". After meeting in the 1840s, Burns and Engels formed a relationship that lasted until Burns' sudden death at the age of 41 on 7 January 1863. Although the custom of the day was marriage, the two politically opposed the bourgeois institution of marriage and never married. After her death Engels lived with her sister Lizzie, whom he married on 11 September 1878, hours before her death. Not much is written about Mary Burns. The only direct references to Mary Burns that have survived are a letter from

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

to Engels on learning of her death, saying she was "very good natured" and "witty", and a letter from Marx's daughter,

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, saying she was "very pretty, witty and an altogether charming girl, but in later years drank to excess". No images of Burns are known to exist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Mary Karl Marx 1823 births 1863 deaths Irish activists Irish women activists English activists English women activists People from Salford English people of Irish descent Friedrich Engels