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  1. #1
    soden55
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    Default Cunneens in Wellington

    Hello,
    I am having problems finding out what happened to John Cunneen and his family.
    John was born in Ireland and was living in the Vale, Guernsey Channel Islands, working as a stone cracker in the 1861 Eng census with his wife Mary and 3 children Catherine, Thomas and Michael, and again in 1871 with now 6 children Thomas, Kate, Michael, Daniel, Margaret and Timothy.
    The eldest daughter Catherine married John Ryan in Oct 1872 and they arrive in Wellington New Zealand in 1873 as assisted immigrants. They lived near Greytown till their deaths.
    But John completely disappears.
    Mary Cunneen and her 6 children (the last child William was born c1873) then arrive in NZ in Jan 1875. The shipping records for Assisted Immigration list her as a single woman aged 41 from Kent, and the names and ages of the family all fit, but I have been unable to find any record of John making the trip to New Zealand.
    He may have died on Guernsey, but also the NZ records for Mary and her children are scant.
    I could see no death record for Mary Cunneen nor a marriage record except one about 1911. No marriages for any of the boys. No deaths either for Thomas, Timothy or Daniel. There is a death for William Cunneen in 1877 aged 4 which would be about right, but the age of death for Michael James Cunneen in 1956 is about 5 years out. There is a Margaret Cunneen who married in 1887 to Edward O'Rourke that could be her.
    Any suggestions would be very welcome.
    Did they stay in New Zealand or travel on, possibly to Australia.
    Thank you

  2. #2
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    As a basis from which to work for those wanting to help
    1871 census Channel Islands RG10 Piece 5766 Folio 108 Page 21
    North Quay Astell's House, St Michael in The Vale, Guernsey
    John Cunneen 40 Labourer stone work Ireland
    Mary Cunneen 36 Ireland
    Thomas Cunneen 18 stone breaker
    Kate Cunneen 16 domestic servant
    Michael Cunneen 10 stone breaker
    Daniel Cunneen 8 scholar
    Margaret Cunneen 3
    Timothy Cunneen 8 months
    All children born Vale Guernsey

    I haven't found anything definitive on any of them, other than Catherine, as yet.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  3. #3
    soden55
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    One small part of the puzzle solved. A cousin was able to get a look up on Guernsey and they found that John Cunneen died on the 9th December 1873 in the Country Hospital, Catel. Son of Thomas Cunneen and Catherine nee Hall.
    Helps to explain why Mary and her children then went to New Zealand.
    But still no closer to finding the family in New Zealand. Are you able to look at BDM records/indexes to gain some more info before buying certificates. The on line indexes give so little info and there are a lot of potential Cunneen's.
    Thanks.

  4. #4
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hi
    The NZ BMD's are here
    I did a quick search for a death for Mary Cunneen and 1875 - 1960 and there were only 4 results. None of them matched your Mary's birth date. There was one for a Winifred Mary Cuneen (one 'n') but it was in 1922 for a 2 year old.
    There are a couple of marriages, one in 1910 for Elizabeth Mary Cunneen and one in 1927 for Mary Margaret Cunneen. With marriages of course there is no information other than year and bride and grooms names. For any additional details certificates have to be purchased.

    No marriage records for any of the Cunneen/Cuneen children showing up to the search cut off date of 16/11/1936 and no Cunneen births with the father's names just Timothy, Daniel, William however there are three to father Thomas Francis and 2 to father Michael James.
    It does look as if they may have gone elsewhere - they couldn't all disappear could they?

    At least you know what happened to John.
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    A Daniel Cunneen married a Mary J MacConnell in 1890 registered in the Maclean district NSW.
    No record in NSW for a Timothy but there are some for a Thomas Cunneen


    Take a look at the NSW BMD'shttps://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au...tory/search?21


    Do you know Mary's parents names because they are given, if known, on the NSW BMS indexes. Of course they may not have gone to NSW but one of the other states.


    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
    soden55
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    Hello,
    just to let you know I have had some luck with results for the family Cunneen in NZ.

    The death certificate in 1876 for the youngest child William Cunneen said that the informant was the step father Edwin Marshall a painter of Greytown. Mary had married him in 1876 but her name was spelt Cueneen, so was missed in my searches. But then she died in 1877.
    Also Margaret Cuneen died in 1947. Her death certificate lists her marrying at age 17 to Henry Woodward (this I could not find in the BDM's) with 1 female child and her second marriage at age 42 was to William Hook with no children.

    I did check out several Cunneens in NSW but stuck out, as some were born in NSW and others when cross referenced with probate records turned out to be no match as they had wrong siblings etc which ruled them out.

    But still no luck with Thomas, Michael, Daniel or Timothy.

    Interestingly and just to confuse the waters there is an Edward Cuneen who died in 1902 aged 29 and John Cuneen who died in 1915 aged 44 who both list their parents as John Cuneen and Mary Cuneen nee Ryan but say they were born in Greytown. But I could not find them in the Bdm's under various spellings. Wrong names but the parents are the same.
    I do not know Marys parents names as yet.
    Thanks

  7. #7
    soden55
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    Default cunneen in wellington

    Hello,
    Still searching for this elusive Cunneen family and have hit a big brick wall.

    John Cunneen and Mary Cunneen nee Ryan were living in Guernsey in 1861 and 1871 census with their 6 children. The 7th child William was born in 1873. John died in Guernsey in 1873.

    Widowed Mary Cunneen and her 6 children arrived in New Zealand in Jan 1875. Mary married Edwin Marshall in Greytown in 1876, her youngest child William died in Dec 1876 and then Mary died in Feb 1877. On her death certificate, her parents names are not known and she has issue of 4 boys and 2 girls.

    Their eldest daughter Catherine/Kate married John Ryan in Guernsey and they both moved to New Zealand in 1873 where they lived near Greytown and had 3 children, Thomas born 1872, MaryAnn 1876 and Catherine in 1878. Rather a sad story from then on with the mother Catherine dying in 1882, and the children were not looked after by their father and Thomas was stealing and the 3 children, who had no home, were placed in St Mary's school. John Ryan did not provide for their upkeep and killed himself in 1909. Thomas enlisted and went to WW1, but suffered poor health afterwards and died in 1920 in Greytown.
    MaryAnne married Thomas Charles Marriott and they emigrated to Victoria Australia. Kate was still in Greytown in 1920.


    The other daughter Margaret died in Auckland in 1947. Her death cert lists her as Margaret Hook aka Cuneen aged 75. First married in Wellington aged 17 to Henry Woodward with issue of 1 female child aged 54 in 1947. Her 2nd marriage was to William Hook at the age of 42 and no issue. Found the 2nd in the BDM's under Cannian. William had died in 1937.

    And there the trail stops dead. I cannot find records of Margaret's first marriage or the birth of a child or what happened to her.

    Also nothing of her 4 brothers Thomas, Michael, Daniel and Timothy Cunneen.

    Any ideas on where to look or information please. Thank you.
    Soden55

  8. #8

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    I found this on Papers Past:
    1892 looks like a Woodward and a Cunneen were in business together
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...?query=cunneen

    also there are quite a lot of sporting results in the 1880s for a Cuneen horse trainer in the lower North Island.

    If you search PapersPast on Cunneen you get a stupendous amount about a large family in Ashburton, South Island. Not yours I think. The above item may relate to them and not your Cunneens, but the coincidence was too much to let it pass.

    However if you search on Cuneen with one n you get one or two Wairarapa results and a lot of Hutt Valley results. Greytown is in the Wairarapa district and just over the hill range from there is Upper Hutt including Trentham, where another clutch of Cuneens lived. There is a most interesting story about the Upper Hutt Cuneens and their plight when the husband went into a sanatorium. The town tried to raise money to support the family and it stuck to somone's hands in the relief committee, leaving Mrs Cuneen worse off than ever. I hope these are your family as there is a huge amount on them; eg,

    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...2?query=cuneen
    More donations to the Cuneen Relief Fund
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...2?query=cuneen
    and more
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...8?query=cuneen
    there’s a quarrel about the Fund
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...9?query=cuneen
    Mrs Cuneen does a moonlight flit when the Fund fails to pay her rent
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...1?query=cuneen
    and gets into legal strife
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...4?query=cuneen
    tries to move to Auckland
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...6?query=cuneen
    more strife with the Fund
    https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...5?query=cuneen
    more strife



    Good luck,
    Dale in New Zealand

  9. #9

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    PS A Peggy Cuneen turned up here and there but I did not record her - could she be your Margaret?

  10. #10
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    A Thomas Cuneen was buried Block 5 Plot 11, 18 June 1932 at Kelvin Grove cemetery, Manawatu, Horowhenua. Looking at the NZ BMD's he was aged 81 so born c1852. Ages on death certificates are not always reliable so a difference of 3 years to the birth year on the 1861 and 1871 censuses is not a big deal.
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

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