Justin John Fenton Francis "Doc" Maloney

   Another name for Justin was Justine John Fenton Francis Moloney.

  General Notes:

There is a significant amount of controversy about his name.

According to family legend there were two mistakes on his official birth certificate. Firstly his christian name should of been Justin and not Justine, secondly his date of birth was listed as 28-Feb when in fact it should of been 30-Jan. The change from Moloney to Maloney happened later in life with a number of officials constantly spelling his name wrong and Justin gave up correcting them.

He was never fond of his given name Justin. He once commented that he would of preferred to of been known by a nickname when he was young rather than Justin. Later in life he found a nickname 'Doc' and was always known by that name.

The name 'Doc' apparently comes from his appearance in his younger years. Back then it was necessary to wear a dust coat while driving, Doc wore a white one. Also in the course of his job as an insurance agent he carried a little black bag. The combination of the black bag and white coat led to his friends calling him Doc. The matter was apparently made worse by the fact that he had a girlfriend who was a nurse at the time.

Sent to Holy Cross College at the age of 10 to study and later become a priest ("given to god"). However after about 10 years he left the College and returned home, the priesthood was not for him. This was almost certainly a huge disappointment to his parents.

The story goes that the two eldest brothers of Nicholas Moloney fell in love with the two daughters of Nicholas' brother William (Kathleen and Philomena Moloney).

Because marriage between 1st cousins was not allowed the relationship was frowned upon. Darryl and Philomena found a way around the problem when Philomena became pregnant, they were hurriedly married. Justin and Kathleen's relationship ended with her death from TB in the 1920's.

After the holy experience he became an insurance agent, travelling New Zealand extensively. He moved to Australia (Melbourne) and continued to sell life insurance. It is reported that he had a breakdown, in his words due to the fact that he hadn't had a holiday for years. At this time he decided to walk north, to Darwin. It is not clear how far he got. Justin's brother told the story that their father (Nicholas) went to Australia to get Justin after he breakdown and bring him back to New Zealand.

Was a percer on the Awatea prior to the outbreak of WWII, travelled through the pacific area. With the outbreak of WWII he joined the Merchant Navy and I believe stayed with the Awatea. He certainly was involved in ferrying troops from Auckland to Canada and from Canada to the pacific and middle east. This certainly matches the exploits of the Awatea. I do not know whether he was onboard the Awatea when it sunk on the 11th of November 1942 of the coast of Djidjelli, but I suspect he may of been.

It was at this time he was courting Irene, they had met while he was at dock in Auckland at a dance. Both Irene and Doc were accomplished ballroom dancers.

When the outcome of the war was not certain Doc proposed that he and Irene be married by proxy to give her the protection of his Irish Maloney name, covering her Jewish heritage. The offer was not accepted.

At some stage during the war it is told he fell and fractured his knee, this may of been either during the sinking of the Awatea or prior to the sinking. He was sent home an invalid and married Irene.

He took a job offered to him by his best friend (and best man at his wedding) at the Dominion Brace Company in Auckland, he later went on to become manager there.

He had some falling out with his family. Although no-one knows exactly what reason was there was a clue is a comment his brother Denis made. He said Justin had visited them at the house in Mt Roskill (Auckland) and told him that they would be 'isolated out here'. The only other clue is another comment by Denis that he never meant to push away Irene, Kerry and Shereen (and inferring he did mean to push away Justin). I suspect the conflict would of related to Justin either resenting the fact h