Did James ever marry Sarah?

Murfomurf

Well-Known Member
There is a James Mooney who is named as the father of two children with Sarah Hargreaves in Lancashire, England:

GRO MOONEY, EDWARD HARGREAVES GRO Reference: 1880 M Quarter in CHORLTON Volume 08C Page 875

GRO MOONEY, CHARLES JOSEPH HARGRAVE GRO Reference: 1878 J Quarter in CHORLTON Volume 08C Page 854

However I can't find any marriage for James and Sarah- it may be there but I missed it- I looked in FamilySearch and the A-site and found the Births in the GRO Index.

Later in the Census the two boys are named as Edward and Charles Stubbins and Sarah as Sarah Mooney, married Thomas Stubbins in 1884:

FreeBMD
Marriages Dec 1884
MOONEY Sarah Chorlton 8c 927
STUBBINS Thomas Chorlton 8c 927

Since Sarah used the surname Mooney to marry Thomas Stubbins, I'd like to find the possible marriage of Sarah Hargreaves to James Mooney. I also have doubts about the birth records of Sarah and James- too many with the same names.
 
1881 census RG11/3934/7/8

Sarah Mooney Lodger, married 29 born Burnley
Joseph Mooney son of lodger, single, 3 born Hulme
Edward Mooney son of lodger, single 1 born Moss Side Manchester

So far no luck finding a marriage.

EDIT

At time of census Sarah and sons are living in Hulme, Chorlton, Lancashire
 
The only source is an un-documented family tree. I thought he could be Patrick Mooney or someone else but nothing definite found so far.
There is a tree on Ancestry that gives James MOONEY married to Sarah HARGREAVES but, as this marriage took place in 1866 when our Sarah would have been just 14 (if that) and the marriage certificate gives a different surname (TRAVIS) which then changes to HARGREAVES, I would treat that with a large pinch of salt. That might be where the undocumented tree comes from.

Mind you, I have not found a marriage for Sarah to a MOONEY either. :headbang:

A copy of the birth certificate for one of the boys might help.... ;)

(I am good at spending other folks' money ;) )
 
According to her marriage record to Thomas STUBBINS, Sarah's father was a Joseph HARGREAVES, Schoolmaster, deceased. 1861 census of Burnley, Lancashire shows Sarah living at 61 Fulledge Road with parents Joseph & Mary HARGREAVES and siblings Mary, John Taylor & Harriet Ann. 1871 census of Burnley shows her living at 10 Holt Street with widowed father Joseph - still a Schoolmaster - & sister Mary. Then the 1881 census of Hulme, Manchester shows her as Sarah MOONEY, married but with no husband, plus children Joseph & Edward. Edward's birth registration in the March qtr 1880 at Chorlton is under the surname MOONEY with mother's maiden name HARGREAVES but I cannot find a likely marriage for Sarah to a MOONEY nor a birth registration for Joseph so far. I think Jan's suggestion in the previous post is probably the best way to go.

Janet

Cross posted with Jan's last post - has she found something to clarify matters!!
 
Wakey Wakey! I still have unfinished business with this family- the birth records for James Mooney, the biological father of Sarah Hargreave's children. He should be in the records with father Patrick Mooney and mother Alice Bonney, but I cannot find either a Baptism or Birth record for him. I know his mother was Single before she married- the documents on Family Search clearly say so:
Patrick Mooney
Single
Spouse Alice Bonney
Single
Marriage 11 Jun 1836
Place St Mary's and All Saints, Whalley, Lancashire, England;

There is no James Mooney with mmn Bonney in the GRO records and his baptism is eluding me. Any advances on zilch?
 
Yep I'd agree with Archies Mum

Lancashire Birth indexes for the years: 1840 (LancashireBMD)

MOONEY, James
MMN, BONNEY
YOB, 1840
Sub-district, Oswaldtwistle (fell within the Blackburn district)
Registers at, Preston

GRO has mangled the MMN

MOONEY, JAMES
MMN, BARNEY
GRO Reference: 1840 D Quarter in BLACKBURN Volume 21 Page 66

In the past few days I've noticed a few mistakes on the GRO, For example, I found a birth in Ludlow, Shropshire on FreeBMD, the GRO had the district as Tudlow
 
If James Mooney was a book keeper born c1840 in Lancashire then I doubt you will find a marriage.
He can be found in 1891 single book keeper living with his two spinster sisters, Catherine and Alice (mothers name was Alice) Both ladies are grocers.
Page 27
3409/17
RG 12
 
To go along with my earlier post and the names of his sisters just posted by AM these are the births found on LancashireBMD.

upload_2023-8-9_5-47-1.png

GRO has

Edward 1839 MMN Benney
James 1840 MMN Barney
Joseph 1842 MMN Bonney
Elizabeth 1845 MMN Bonney
Catherine 1846 (registered 1847) MMN Bormey
Alice 1849 MMN Bonney
 
Last edited:
To go along with my earlier post ... these are the births found on LancashireBMD
WooT!! No wonder I could not find James' GRO record! Obviously their phonetic/similar matching does not stretch to BARNEY for Bonney. It's good to have the sibs as well to track the family through the Census. :eek::D
 
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