Moneypenny's Lock, Craigavon

[missmoneypenny17]

Thanks for the replies, Jon and Eileen. According to a letter written by William's great-grandson, William was born in 1781 in Maguiresbridge and married Mary Jane Kenney (in Maguiresbridge) before they both immigrated to the States, arriving in 1798. One family historian suggested that Mary Jane was from Maguiresbridge, but William was not because there were no records of Moneypennys in that area at that time. From what I can gather,  most of the Moneypennys were living in Armagh in the late 1700s. The Sarah Moneypenny lockkeeper is an interesting find; her location in Brackagh is between Newry and Maguiresbridge. The family was likely Protestant; there has never been a Catholic identity of which I am aware.

Online trees do suggest that William's father was Stephen Moneypenny. I visited Moneypenny's Lock in 2019. The gentlemen who generously gave me a tour (despite the place was no longer open to the public) said that Stephen had a son named William who emigrated. Yet I have not been able to find evidence that they are the same William. The family line that continued in the US named their boys Thomas and William for two hundred years, but I don't know of any Stephens.

I've exhausted the links you've provided, Jon. These sites are helpful in the search. The limitation, as you pointed out, is the timing. Any records from the US ports of arrival begin far after William and Mary Jane would have landed here. The only conclusion I can make is that I need to plan another trip for research!

[MissM]

I hope you have some luck with your search for William and Stephen.

I'm going to try those links Jon posted and hope I come across my Mathew/Matthew somewhere - but I won't be holding my breath!

Lynne

[Jon_ni]

missmoneypenny

I see nothing special about Sarah's location. All the lockeepers residing in Brackagh Townland, near Portadown, would have lived at the house located beside what is now referred to as Moneypenny's Lock due to the fact they did live there for >85 years.
The canal runs between Newry & Portadown but Newry is basically irrelevent to both Brackagh and Maguiresbridge. If you were travelling from Newry you would go via Armagh City or through Monaghan Town.

One family historian suggested that Mary Jane was from Maguiresbridge, but William was not because there were no records of Moneypennys in that area at that time

As no marriage registers survive for the period before 1800 for Maguiresbridge and Aghalurcher parish for any denomination and no baptisms before 1788, and none are online, establishing if Moneypennys are recorded could only be inferred by reading the subsequent microfilm in PRONI. I do agree that subsequently there is only the one civil entry I mentioned and the surname is prevalent in Armagh. Freeholder and Name search on PRONI for the 1st half of the 1800s period also show all Moneypennys from Armagh.

I'm not sure what you would look at on a further research trip. Any marriage entries c.1790 will be minimal, listing just the names of the parties, no parents, they may say of Brackagh or they may say of Kilmore or may be just names & date so if a register existed is unlikely to lead to a breakthrough. I feel you need to discount Maguiresbridge or discount Stephen.

William was born in 1781 in Maguiresbridge and married Mary Jane Kenney (in Maguiresbridge) before they both immigrated to the States, arriving in 1798

Whilst the legal age for marriage was 12 for woman and 14 for men such young marriages were pratically unheard of. If it had been common there would have been public pressure to raise the legal minimum age of marriage earlier than 1929. The average age was 25 even in the 17th Century. In the late 1840s GROI reports indicate only 5% of males married under 21 (full age; the vast majority of those being 19-20). https://archive.org/details/op1247297-1001/page/n3/mode/2up. Mid 1880's in England GRO reports show less than 1 in 1000 males married under 18.
I suspect you are putting too much faith in ages recorded in subsequent records, people tended to underestimate their ages on census and informants on parent's deaths. I would suggest that William was more likely baptised/born in the 1770's if a register existed / entry was found.

On 1810 naturalization petition William says he arrived 1794-5. There are hundreds of trees with William Moneypenny. One of the typed documents does mention a John Moneypenny from Enniskillen, Fermanagh.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/81659093/person/36473029027/gallery?galleryPage=1
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/1653487/person/-1905779445/gallery?galleryPage=1

Many of the 415 trees https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1030/?name=william_moneypenny&count=50&keyword=fermanagh&keyword_x=1&name_x=1 show William's father as Stephen and mother as Mary Jane Nesbitt. That is a distortion of the relationships from Familysearch from a marriage after Stephen's death 1837, aged 87, as clearer when you consult the actual 1848 certificate on https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1848/09342/5382728.pdf which is for a (Farmer, not a lockeeper of Shanecrackan, Mullaghbrack).
That error has been copied and perpetuated.
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13073776/person/-125379972//facts
Barring that there no evidence I see that your William's father was 'Stephen'.

"Notes on the Irish Origin of the Moneypenny & Kenny Families of West Virginia, by David Armstrong" https://h3scpd.wildapricot.org/resources/HCPD%20Publications/HCPD%20Journals/21-Issue%201.pdf
Their 1st known son James is thought to have been born 1797 in the US.
The older research & Ancestry trees suggests they may both have been born c.1765 see images on
and https://www.geni.com/people/William-Moneypenny/6000000069302123115
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LCP2-9JG
https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/o/n/Chuck--Moneypenny/GENE1-0001.html
As lockeeper Stephen was born c.1750 based on the Belfast Newsletter death entry he is also too young to be father of a William born 1765-70. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/49425:2193

https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/irl/FER/Aghalurcher

[Jon_ni]

Starting from Stephen's death 1837, aged 87 [born c.1750]. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/49425:2193

Stephen had a son William and a daughter Rose Ann, William took over Stephen's role as Lock keeper when his father died 1837; his sister lived adjacent in the old lock house 1840.
Stephen's father was William, also Lock-keeper and Stephen took over when William died, old William had lived there for years. A New lock-house was built in the time of Stephen 1808 by the Newry Canal as the old house was dilapidated & he moved into it from the old. The roof & bits of the old house were recycled into the new but the old was repaired some 10 years later. Rose moved from new to old alter her father's death, saying it was left to her in his Will. William had lived in the old one. Moneypenny ownership was disputed, it was given rent free to old Billy Moneypenny as long as he lived etc then Widow Trueman passed to Stephen whilst the lease lasted. The dispute seems to have been about actual ownership of the garden + old house and Rose Ann lost.

William's father (Stephen's grandfather) Matthew Moneypenny had lived there before the building of the canal (1742).
Trueman's farm now in the possession of William Adams surrounded the lock-house on 3 sides with the canal on the other on the estate of the Count de Salis, Townland of Brackagh, he considered he owned the old.

This is the story & newspaper cutting referred to in the opening question on the thread by Lynne / MissM.
Newry Telegraph 11 August 1840 (2 columns same page).
The Newry Navigation Company. John Jones vs. Rose Ann Moneypenny.
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/viewarticle?id=bl/0000998/18400811/005
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/viewarticle?id=bl/0000998/18400811/007

or access page using a free 3 trial views on registration to British Newspaper Archive (after that is subscription)
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1840-08-01/1840-09-01?basicsearch=moneypenny&newspapertitle=newry+telegraph

William (Junior), widower, Toll Collector, died Brackagh 11 May 1873, aged 90 [1783] https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1873/020700/7262894.pdf at the 15th Lock mear Portadown, interred MULLAVILLY https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1087111:2193
William's wife Rosanne, aged 75 or 78 died 15th Lock 30 Apr 1864 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1066937:2193 there is no civil death registration
and Rose Anne, spinster, in 1878, aged 63 [1815!] https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1878/020524/7202380.pdf
both registered by a Sarah Moneypenny, likely the spinster aged 80 mentioned before (Lockeeper & Tole Collector) died Brackagh 13 May 1898.
and presumably his son William in 1887, aged 64 https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1887/06216/4778730.pdf he was 'of Belfast' in Belfast News-Letter 16 June 1862 when his daughter Lizzie aged 8 died at her grandfathers residence, the 15th Lock near Portadown 13 Jun 1862.

[DayzBoots]

I hope you have some luck with your search for William and Stephen.

I'm going to try those links Jon posted and hope I come across my Mathew/Matthew somewhere - but I won't be holding my breath!

Lynne

Hi Lynne,

How’s your search for Matthew going? I’ve been looking myself and can’t find anything.

I’ve seen a few family trees linking Jas and Matthew but can’t find anything else!

It does make sense if he was from Armagh/Portadown area.

Many thanks,

Lizi

[MissM]

I hope you have some luck with your search for William and Stephen.

I'm going to try those links Jon posted and hope I come across my Mathew/Matthew somewhere - but I won't be holding my breath!

Lynne

Hi Lynne,

How’s your search for Matthew going? I’ve been looking myself and can’t find anything.

I’ve seen a few family trees linking Jas and Matthew but can’t find anything else!

It does make sense if he was from Armagh/Portadown area.

Many thanks,

Lizi

Hi Lizi,

How strange that I should come here today after virtually 2 years to the day and find your message! I dip in and out of my family tree on Ancestry quite often, but forgot about this thread completely!

I'm still looking for Matthew but I'm building other strands on Ancestry and this had led me back to this thread. I didn't connect the Matthew mentioned above with mine but I'm wondering now if he could be him. I'm making a separate tree for this branch too but hopefully it will all link up some how one day.

The Jas you're seeing linked to Matthew on other trees was put on by my cousin who can't remember why he did it or find any links so please ignore that!

Hope you're making progress with your own tree and still enjoying the 'journey'.

Best wishes,
Lynne x