Glenmore

SITE under construction!

Where is it best to start to tell a complex and personal intertwined story spread over many centuries and varied landscapes?
I realized at an early age that Moore was not the most common name, but also not unusual; sort of in the middle. At an early age I also visited Glenmore near Camden with my parents, so let's start there!

It was then a Methodist Church and later a Uniting Church, so it was a comfortable fit into the family history which included Methodist ministers in the family. Adjacent to the church is the old, and still in use cemetery.
Multiple generations are buried here including the original family that came from England to New South Wales and provided the land and built the church next to their farm house.

Soon other names entered the picture. My father's mother was an East, and the surnames Hughes, Jarman and Small entered the puzzle. My mother's maiden name was Nelson and her mother's maiden name was Veitch, although it was many decades before I learnt of this venerable Scotish family.

As children we spent a good deal of times with cousins called Nelson as they lived in Brisbane and we first met at Grandma's house at Northgate. She was the only Grandparent I ever knew! In contrast my father as an only son with his relatives living on the south coast of NSW, it would be many decades before I met a "Moore"!

A few days before Lenore and I became engaged we visited Glenmore together. I wished to share some of this history with her. Although in truth I understood so little of it myself at that time. Lenore told me a little about her mother's family, the McCanns and the McAllisters who like my maternal grandmother had traveled from Scotland to settle in the same area of Brisbane.

And so Lenore's and my journey of discovery began in 1977!

For me the fascination has always been the 'transition'. So I have researched the occupations and socio-economic conditions before and after the transition and the timing of the move to Australia. The generations from the transition to today are well documented and I see no need to add more. Where possible I always explore backwards into the generations before the transition.

 

So this is a personal summary of the information I have gather from libraries and visitations over the past 2 decades. It is my gift to those who have similar interests.

My 'take away'

You may wonder what is my take away from the journey of discovery. I am left with the deepest admiration for these pioneers. Edward and Elizabeth Moore, John Spence Veith, Matthew Hughes and William Dickerson Nelson each have incredible stories of over overcoming adversity and moving to Australia to build a new life. Edward Moore endured the perfect storm; loss of a father and bread winner before he was 2, geographically and occupationly bearing the brunt of the industrial revolution, then deadly food and industrial riots, the depression of the napoleonic wars and the soaring unemployment after the 'Victory at Waterloo' and all well before the 'Poor Law Reforms'. And finally to be dealt with by an unmerciful justice system that was overtly supported by the 'establishment church'.

Rather than awkwardly forgetting Edward, Elizabeth and their two young children, their triumph over adversity should be celebrated! They suffered much and achieved much!