Peruse her biography:

Emily's parents were Johnny Charles Chesley, a psychotic war hero and Molly Magdalene Catherine Mary (nee) Flannigan, famed for her scrubbing prowess and penchant for silly hats.

Genesis

Emily Chutney Chesley was born in Ireland, on May 24, 1856, the daughter of an Irish Catholic girl named Molly Magdalene Catherine Mary (nee) Flannigan and a bona fide British war hero, Johnny Charles Chesley. Johnny Chesley, forced into a life in the Army by poverty, was the youngest son of a failed merchant banker. Molly was a Catholic from County Clare, Ireland. Her family had fled their hometown of Ennis during the Potato Famine in 1848 and settled in London.

Though an indifferent marksman, Johnny Chesley was a famed drinker and ruffian. As such, he made perfect sergeant's material, and met with some success in that role, though he never made it above the rank of sergeant, as he was constantly being demoted for public drunkenness. Johnny was famous for two things -- month-long, sack-inspired benders, and ferocity in battle not seen since the Magyars. He is said to have personally decapitated twelve Russian Uhlans at the Battle of Balaclava; some feat for an infantryman. Balaclava is best known for the ridiculous Charge of the Light Brigade, but Chesley's feats of mindless savagery are comparable to atrocities throughout the ages and were sadly overlooked by any talented poets at the time, though his officers appreciated Chesley's "mettle". He was given an extended leave.

Chesley returned to London where he met Molly, who was working as a charwoman, trying to keep her mother and twelve siblings alive. Molly was the honest female breadwinner of the family. Her younger sisters Mary, Catherine, Chelsea and Hope all fell into prostitution as soon as they were able. The patriarch of the family, six siblings, and an old aunt named Gertrude had all died since their move to London. Most of Molly's brothers died in London's slums, but one, Michael, survived as an inventor and "locationist"; he proved a lifelong companion for both Molly and her daughter Emily.

Michael Flannigan’s life of invention was one of soaring achievement and disastrous failure, of brief spasms of opulent wealth connected by longer stretches of grinding poverty. By the 1850s Flannigan had already had more than a lifetime of success and failure. His Phanerogam Rendering Tube, (aka., Nautch) and his Particulate Breathing Apparatus had made him a houehold name. And the Mesmer-inspired Introspection Wheel made him the hit of the 1854 social season (though it would eventually be a cause of scandal and exile for Flannigan and his family.)

By the mid 1850s Flannigan’s celebrity translated into a small fortune, enough money to pay outright for the wedding of his sister Molly to the dashing Sgt Johnny Chesley. A grand wedding was performed at Chapel Shercksbury-on-Whimsey for the couple. It would be, for poor hardworking Molly, one of the happiest days of her life.

Battlefield accounts credit Johnny Chesley with decapitating twelve Russian Uhlans at the Battle of Balaclava, using a bayonette, a sabre, and as difficult as it is to believe, a length of rubber tubing and a fez.

Hundreds came from all around for the nuptials: English, Irish, Protestants, Catholics, wealthy and dirt poor. Songs were sung. There was dancing and carousing. Draught and wine flowed in abundance. The wedding celebration would be long remembered not least of which for the carnage that ensued. For it is always only a matter of time, in
keeping with such occasions, until somebody throws the first punch.

For Molly it was all bliss. She and Johnny were well away from the action by the time the Great Shercksbury Riot of 1850. Molly was convinced she saw fireworks, though the sky was merely lit by the burning of several downtown establishments, accompanied by the popping musketry of the local militia called out to quell the celebration.

Molly was impregnated after the nuptials, and two days later, for obvious reasons, Johnny was sent back to the Crimean War. Though Florence Nightingale was more famous, Johnny Chesley made his own mark during the Crimea and the reams of history of that sad and silly conflict do contain a few scant pages that speak of him. He was featured in several of William Howard Russell's reports in The Times, most notably, the passage that describe Johnny's greatest heroics and death:

Michael Flannigan was something of a sensation in Ennis, Co. Clare, and Limerick, Co. Limerick for his new "particulate breathing apparatus".

Fighting continues at Sevastopol. While Nightingale moves amongst the casualties, British infantry makes assault after assault upon the mighty walls of the wily Nakhimov's fortress defense. Meanwhile, fighting continues outside of the citadel. Yesterday, the 12th Line made three attempts to exploit a weakness caused by successive artillery barrages. Sergeant John C. Chesley distinguished himself in these actions on several occasions by hurling Russian corpses at the enemy. It had such a devastating effect on enemy morale that the Russian line collapsed twice before a Russian officer put a sabre through Chesley's mid-drift. The enraged sergeant decapitated the officer before expiring of obvious causes. Army officers say the sergeant will be given posthumous decoration.

When news of the death the brave and quite mad Johnny reached Molly, she returned to Ireland to be with her mother and brother Michael, who had moved back home.

--"Scholarship" by The Squire
& Thuder

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