Early Life
Noonan was born in Dublin, Ireland, the illegitimate son of Samuel Croker, a senior member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was baptized and raised a Roman Catholic. His father, who wasn't Catholic, had his own family, but attempted to provide for Robert until his death in 1875.
Noonan had, in the words of his daughter, Kathleen, "a very good education" and could speak a variety of languages. However, when he was sixteen, he showed signs of a radical political consciousness, and left his family, declaring he "would not live on the family income derived largely from absentee landlordism". It was around this time he changed his surname from Croker to his mother's maiden name.
Read more about this topic: Robert Tressell
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