Today provides one of those opportunities to link families together, though there frustrating gaps in the information, like what is the name of the sister who lived in Ireland.
Margaret Moloney, nee Hogan, is of interest to me because she comes from Broadford, a specific research focus on mine.
Starting with this obituary what can we learn about Margaret?
- Married to Bartholomew Moloney
- No children
- Sister is Mrs Patrick Bourke (christian name Catherine -more on her in coming days)
- A sister in Ireland
- Four sisters (in Australia or Portland?)
- a brother in Portland, Oregon, USA
- Parents John and Mary Hogan
- very young when she emigrated
- Born circa 1843
- Bartholomew died circa 1899 or 1900
- OBITUARY. (1925, October 1). Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1932), p. 31. Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116762697
Margaret’s birth falls just around the time the Broadford RC parish records commence, but her name does not appear there. It’s possible that she is one of the children of John Hogan and Mary Smith of Killokennedy, but further research would be required, and perhaps a copy of the marriage certificate.
I also searched the State Records of NSW Immigration indexes and then the shipping lists. There were three possibilities across the period 1855 to 1868:
- Margaret (19) in 1863 on the Spitfire, from Ennis (unlikely)
- Margaret (14) in 1867 on the Sir Robert Sale, from Tulla (more possible)
- Margaret (21) on the Montmorency arriving 29 November 1864, from Broadford.
From what we knew the latter was the likeliest so I checked my East Clare database and I have her listed. From the Board Immigrant Lists (microfilm 2482, ref 4/4986) I find that this passenger’s details were as follows:
She was a dairymaid, aged 21, could read and write and was Catholic. Her parents were John and Mary Hogan of Killokennedy, and both were alive (there are several listings for John Hogan in Killokennedy parish on the Griffiths Valuations). Margaret also stated that she had sisters in the colony, Honora and Bridget Hogan, living in Campbell St, Sydney.
Using the NSW BDM online index search I found the following marriage:
851/1868 | MOLONEY | BARTHOLOMEW | HOGAN | MARGARET | SYDNEY |
Using the same option I also found Bartholomew’s death:
14978/1899 | MOLONEY | BARTHOLOMEW | PATRICK | ELLEN | REDFERN |
I also looked at the Rookwood Catholic Cemetery search facility and found Margaret’s burial through her husband’s (note the different spelling):
Names: Bartholemew Maloney
Service Date:15 Dec 1899 Date of Death:14 Dec 1899
Age:58 Gender:M Register Number:19108 Burial Type:Burial
Location:Section Grave Mortuary 1; Area : A Grave : 555 .5 Interred in this burial site :
Surname |
Given Name |
Service Date |
Age |
Location |
Maloney |
Bartholemew |
15 Dec 1899 |
58 |
SEC*M1*A**555.5 |
Maloney |
Margaret |
11 Jul 1928 |
81 |
SEC*M1*A**555.5 |
It’s probably not surprising that the details are verifiable from the records, as the information would have come from her sister. I have had a brief look for Margaret’s emigration but haven’t conclusively pinned her down. If she was young when she arrived, it’s likely she arrived as part of the immigration wave of the early 1860s. During this period the local parish priest of Broadford was working quite hard helping the young people to emigrate as Ireland was again in a dire situation, and with America in the throes of a Civil War, it was no longer such an appealing option.
I found it interesting that Margaret’s brother had found his way to the western coast of the USA, but also interesting to reaffirm that emigrants would choose whichever place best suited them, irrespective of whether they had family in another place -or perhaps they chose a favoured sibling to emigrate to/with.
My next step was to try to find out more about sister, Catherine Bourke nee Hogan, and also Margaret’s husband Bartholomew (thank heavens he wasn’t called Michael, Patrick or Thomas!).