Mansons from Cork

Hi,

Do you have more information? Birth or marriage date? Spouse or children's names? Are you certain about the surname Manson? I'm not finding many with that name, but there are many "Mason" surnames in Cork. And could not find anyone with the name Kelly.

Regards,

Hello Carolyn

Thank you for your message.  Here is some more information, perhaps something could give a lead:

His (Kelly Manson) wife's name was Helena Manson.  Their children were Michael, Maroun, Najeeb and May.  We understand they lived in Cork before immigrating to South Africa in the early 1900's (1900-1906).  We were also told some of the children were born in Ireland.  

His grandfather - Kelly Manson - died in 1965 in Africa somewhere.  We therefore suspect he was born around 1870's-80's.

The one son, Maroun Manson returned to Ireland and his daughter, Bernadette (born 1930's40's), lived there the last time we had contact with her (my husband's cousin).

Going even further back, my husband's great-grandfather's name was Richard Manson.

The family was of Catholic faith.  

Would it be worth contacting the Church for birth/marriage records? Or is their a civilian bureau with records available to the public?

We look forward to your response :)

Kind regards

Handri

Handri,

You can search the civil and Cork church records on the free site irishgenealogy.ie.  The civil birth records are from 1864-1923, marriage 1864 to 1948 (some marriage records go back to 1845), and deaths 1871 to 1973. There are two tabs at the top of the website....church & civil. I have looked on this site for your relatives, but found nothing. I also looked at the paid site Roots Ireland for an "all Ireland" search, but found no Richard or Kelly Manson.

Regards,

Handri,

I meant to add that I did see your Ancestry tree with Richard Manson's birth record in the RC parish of Cloyne....that one will not be on the church records tab, but it should have shown up in Roots Ireland when I looked. Sometimes records go missing and/or they don't have every record transcribed. If Richard was from RC parish of Cloyne, one would expect to find his marriage if not in that parish then in a nearby one, as well as the birth of his children. Unless, of course, he had some occupation that took him away from there. Do you think Kelly is a nickname? It strikes me as an unusual choice for a son's name in the 1870's - 80's.

Regards,

Handri

Another point I considered....do you have concrete evidence that Richard was Kelly's father? That birth record for a Richard Manson doesn't necessarily mean he is Kelly's father, and it would have made him around 50 or 60 when Kelly was born which seems rather old for that time period. If he is not his father, then you could search other areas of Cork besides Cloyne.

Regards,

Hello Carolyn

thank you for your messages, we will definitely look into the databases you mentioned. 

Perhaps he was listed as Ceallaigh, the Gaelic name for Kelly, we will have a look.

Yes Richard was his father, it is possible that they resided in another part of the country before living in Cork.

Kind regards

Handri

Handri,

I looked on rootsireland under the surname Manson for Richard's birth, but did not find anything as I mentioned before. Then when I looked under Richard Mason, a record shows up. It is the same record that you have on your tree; however rootsireland translates it differently than Ancestry does. The original is very difficult to decipher. Anyhow, the roots Ireland shows this:

Richard Mason, DObaptism - 26 Jul 1822, RC parish Cobh (a part of Cloyne), parents - James Mason & Mary Sullivan. As you know, the Ancestry record does not show the name James for his father. Sponsors were William Drew & Mary Dillon.

Then I looked for their marriage record and found this: James Mason & Mary Sullivan married 24 Aug 1821, RC parish Cobh. Witnesses - Thomas Kerby & Mary Murphy.

I looked for additional children besides Richard, but did not find any.

 There are many birth records to a Richard Mason in Cork, but no son named Kelly or Ceallaigh. There is a single marriage record for a Richard Mason in 1850 to a Mary Hickey in the RC parish of Shandrum. This couple went on to have a number of children in the 1850s and 1860s in Shandrum and the neighboring RC parish of Charleville.

The only fly in the ointment is the distance, in those days, between the RC parish of Cobh and Shandrum. Do you know if Richard Mason had an occupation that would have taken him that far north in Cork? A couple were usually married in the wife's parish, and typically, the two were from the same parish or general area. 

Finally, in your initial query, you wrote "Kelly Manson lived there in the late 1800's"......was he a child? adult? do you have specific years? what records show that?

Regards,

PS. so I guess now you are the "nice" Masons! :)

PSS...my father is/was (retired) a funeral director in LA, and buried Sharon Tate :(

Hello Carolyn

Thank you for your messages and the digging you did :) 

As far as we know, Richard Manson (Mason?) was in the military. He was also killed by the Black-and-Tan. 
 

Kelly Manson was an adult in the late 1800's and moved to South Africa during the second Anglo-Boer war (1888 - 1903) also serving in the military. He had children between 1900-1910. As such it is likely that he was a young man at that time - probably in his 20's, maybe 30's.

Based on the above I agree that the Richard Manson born in 1822 is perhaps too old to be Kelly's father.

Not sure if the fact that they were involved with the military might affect the availability of their records...?

Also, if they had changed their name from Mason to Manson...given the number of Masons you found in Cork.

Re. Sharon Tait - wow - that is close to home for you! Tragic affair.

Wishing you an enchanting week :)

Kind regards

Handri