Raymond Malachi MOONEY

Raymond Malachi MOONEY (1890-1960) was born to Thomas Francis MOONEY I and Catherine BROWNE at Pambula. By 1874 Thomas senior had entered his father’s trade and would run hotels at Bega, Pambula and Moruya before he leased and ran the Traveller's Rest Hotel at Tomerong between about 1888 and 1907. Raymond was about 2 at this time and so would go on to attend Tomerong Public School. Raymond's 14 year old sister, Ada, was to die in 1898, after having a fit and falling on the kitchen fire at Tomerong.

In 1903 Thomas was fined for not sending his youngest son, Raymond, the 200 yards to Tomerong School. Thomas explained that as his other sons had left, he required the 13 year old to work around the Hotel and do mail runs. The Hotel was a wild and rowdy place that was in poor condition and Thomas was described as a ‘red-headed Irishman’ with a quick temperament. After a break, the Hotel was refurbished, a new license for Mooney obtained and it re-opened in 1898 as the Commercial Hotel. The sons would intermittently become barmen and managers of the Hotel.

When Thomas Francis MOONEY I enlisted in Jan 1915 he listed his brother, Raymond, of Darlinghust as his next of kin. Raymond attended court that month charged with stealing from a fellow boarder a Gladstone bag, overcoat, trousers, silk shirts, razor, hairbrush and £3. He was fined £7 or two months imprisonment. At this time Raymond, father Thomas, and older brother Patrick Frederick MOONEY ( a future Senator) were living close to each other around Surry Hills.

Raymond enlisted in Feb 1917, aged 25, and listed his occupation as a Racehorse Groom. Thomas senior would die the following month aged 69. Raymond was charged with insubordination and being AWOL several times post enlistment. Whilst AWOL he was charged by the civil Police for indecent behaviour and assault and robbery. He served 14 days in Long Bay Gaol and not long after he was discharged from the AIF.

He enlisted for the second time from Bundaberg and arrived in Liverpool, England in Oct 1917. Raymond joined the 49th Battalion after the German Spring Offensive in March had been defeated that was highlighted by the Brigade's successful attack on the village of Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April 1918. The Battalion was involved in the 'Hundred Days Offensive' near Amiens which would lead to the end of the war. Raymond received a bullet wound to the left foot and was transferred to England in Aug 1918. On 20 October 1918 Raymond embarked on 'D28' and returned to Australia where he was discharged from the AIF on 12 February 1919.

Raymond returned to Queensland and married Lizzie Jane Courtman in 1921. He was living in Paddington, Brisbane, in 1926 and working at the wool store of Fenwick & Co. in Brisbane in 1927, but was retrenched as the Storeman and Packers’ Union would not admit him as a member. An R Mooney was elected as the Secretary of the newly formed Cribb Island (now Brisbane Airport) RSL Sub-Branch in 1936. Raymond enlisted in the Civilian Military Force in Brisbane in the Second World War and listed his next of kin as Lizzie Mooney. It appears he was living at Margate, north of Brisbane on Moreton Bay, at this time. Raymond Malachi Mooney died on 21 September 1960, aged 69, and is buried in Lutwyche Cemetery in Brisbane. We have found no War Memorial that includes the name of Raymond Mooney.

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Images

• School Photo 1903 TP2858.
• School Certificate TP5277.
• 49th Battalion TP5291.
• Graylingwell Hospital TP5291.
• Tomerong Anzacs TP4828.
• Forces List TP6309.
• DVA Certificate TP6312.
• Origin Map TP6266.

Links

1. Tomerong Local History Web Page- tomeronghistory.com
2. Tomerong Past Facebook Album- Tomerong Past Facebook This site may provide more information relative to this family. Check the 'Families' and 'Monuments' albums and those institutions that the family contributed to e.g. 'School', 'Sawmills', 'Clyde Shire' etcetera.
3. Tomerong Anzacs TP4828- Tomerong Anzacs
4. Raymond Mooney Wikitree- Raymond Mooney Wikitree