Marshall Mooney
- Born
- 1836-01-01 12:00:00
- Died
- 1896-05-19 12:00:00
- Gender
- Male
- Place of migration
- Stayed in Ireland
Son of John Mooney, a woodturner/shuttle maker of Movilla Street, Newtownards (born around 1800-1810, listed in 1846 in the Newtownards post office directory).
Marshall was a woodturner/shuttle maker in Belfast and Newtownards. I suspect he may have been born out of wedlock, as I can find no records of his birth, mother, or early life. Since he was born in 1836, he would have been a child of the famine. I have several theories as to his growing up years, from spending time in a workhouse to apprenticing with his father as a transient woodturner, which would account for the lack of any records. I am still actively searching for any information on Marshall's early years and the identity of his mother and grandparents.
Marshall first shows up in official records when he was married to Jane Fleming in Newtownards in 1857, with whom he lived and had five children (William, Hugh, Isaac, Mary Jane, Eleanor, and Grace) in Newtownards. Jane took the children and moved to Dunfermline, Scotland, in about 1868-1869 because her husband "beat and abused her." Marshall remained in Belfast.
Marshall had an affair with a married woman named Margaret Douglass McAllister, which resulted in a son (Marshall, b. 1876), who died at about six months of age. Marshall and Margaret seem to have separated after this, and she returned to her husband and had another child with him.
In 1877, Marshall married Sarah Wilson, with whom he had a son, Robert Henry Wilson Mooney. He was charged with bigamy just a year later in 1878. After the bigamy charge, Sarah and Robert disappear from official records.
After Sarah left, Marshall and Margaret got back together and had three more children, twins Marshall and John (b. 1879, Marshall died at about five or six months old), Sarah (b. 1881), and Marshall (b. 1882). There's no information as to his marriage to Margaret. I suspect they never actually married to avoid issues with the law. In 1896, Marshall was involved in an accident of some kind and died in the Belfast hospital. The cause of death was determined to be fractures of the pelvic bones. I suspect he may have been struck by a vehicle or possibly fallen off of some scaffolding.
Any information I can get on his parents would be greatly appreciated!
