Moore

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The Transition

Edward and Elizabeth Moore came to New South Wales as prisons and like many others built a new and much better future.

As a young boy my father had told me that there were two types of settles; convicts and free settlers! And his family was some of the first free settlers. He was not sure where they had come from in England, and on one occasion he speculated on Cornwall based on no particular information, just that many out of work tin miners had come to Australia and some were named Moore. I'm sure this was the extent of his knowledge at the time.

Many years later, and long after the family visit to Glenmore in 1967, my father said that the original Moores came from Manchester. I believe that in retirement he had made contact with a Camden historical society and learnt for the first time that the Moores' had a free passage to Australia. It would have been a shock to him!

Newton Heath

In 2015 I confirmed that a number of generations of the Moores/Moors lived in Newton Heath or Newton Chapelry as it was then commonly know, which is now located in the suburbs of Manchester. Rebecca's village of Failsworth is a mile away. Their predominant occupation was 'linen weavers'.

Edward's father, Joseph died the year after his birth, but his mother lived in Failsworth until her death in 1827.

When Joseph Moors married Robocah (Rebecca) Clough on Sunday 28th July, 1771, they both signed the register with a 'X'. (Aside: Captain Cook's ship the Endeavour arrived off Kent, England in July 1771 from its voyage of discovery to New South Wales.)

 

 

The Moore/Lomas BANS (1814) read on 3 occasions at St George the Martyr, Southwark.

 

 

 

 

The Transportation

There remain many questions about Edward and Elizabeth Moore. Why did they leave Manchester and travel to London? Where did they met? How did they travel to London and back? And how did they become involved in the then prevalent trade in forged Bank of England notes? Where Joseph and Mary in the dock with their parents in Lancaster Castle when they were charged and sentenced? Was Edward's or Elizabeth's mother in court? Did they look after the children? [note: Lancashire is over 50 miles from Manchester]

(Mary Ellen was born 6th March 1817 and baptised at St. Mary's Southwark (close to Elephant and Castle) London. Her parents convicted at Lancaster Lent Assizes in March 1818.)

Edward Moore : Born in Manchester, Lancashire in May 1791, Edward married Elizabeth Lomas at Southwark, London January 25th, 1814.

 

By the early 1800's British Newspapers covered the British Isles with a number of banners in major towns. Court cases and public events were covered in detail. This report is from the Manchester Mercury (page 2) on 15 April 1818.Forged bank notes were a major issue for Banks and Government at this time. 'Uttering' would often lead to the death penalty even for women. Being in possession could also result in the death penalty.

 

The Lancashire Gazette gives a more detailed account. Other editions referred to the record number of cases appearing before the courts.The introduction to the report is of the Sheriff's Chaplain preaching on "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." In this same period many 'common people' were turning from the establishment church and particularly to the Wesleyans.Interestingly a couple of reports make reference to it being Bank of England notes that the Moores' had. Bank of England notes were still rare outside London. Other newspaper reports cover the rather dubious methods (by today's standards) used by police to apprehend suspects. An historic quote:"the act of forging banknotes became a capital offence in 1697, while passing, or"uttering" forged notes became capital in 1725.During the Napoleonic Wars (1793 to 1815), the Bank of England was forced to suspend the convertibility of its currency with gold and to produce a series of new forms of currency. Between 1797 and 1821, the period known as the‘restriction’, new, primarily copper coins and, most importantly, inexpensively produced £1 and £2 notes were brought into circulation. The poor quality of these notes led to a spate of forgeries, which in turn led to a high number of prosecutions led by the Bank itself, for both forgery and uttering forged notes. "The following report is from a "penny newspaper" in Edinburgh (1st Oct 1818) which give a very detailed account of the trial of a 22 year old woman whose husband had died 2 years earlier and had no fixed place of residence since. The judge summed up against her, the jury recommended mercy, but the judge immediately sentenced her to death:"The Depute-Advocate addressed the Jury for the Crown, and Mr Grahame for the Prisoner. Lord Gillies summed up the evidence, and directed the attention of the Jury to the great body of legal proof adduced against the Prisoner, which he thought perfectly sufficient to warrant them to bring in a verdict of guilty. The Jury returned a verdict, all in one voice, finding the pannel Guilty of uttering the two forged notes specified in the 2d and 3d charges,knowing them to be forged ; but, on account of her want of education and general ignorance, unanimously recommended her to mercy. After which,she was sentenced to be Executed on Wednesday the 4th November; the unfortunate woman was much agitated, and wept bitterly on hearing her sentence.

 

Printed in Edinburgh:—Price ONE PENNY."

Edward was one of 250 male convicts on the 'General Stewart' that sailed from Portsmouth, England on 19 July 1818 arriving in Sydney on 31 December 1818. It must have been a good trip with only 4 convicts dying on the voyage.

Elizabeth with their 2 children arrived on the 'Lord Wellington' on Wednesday 19th January 1820 with 87 (English and Irish) female prisoners and 45 children; the twenty four women who had young children with them on the voyage were sent immediately to the (old) Factory at Parramatta, located over the jail. Due to much controversy including speeches in parliament this voyage was almost a luxury passage by convict ship standards; well provisioned, lightly loaded with a lengthy stop over in Rio de Janeiro, and no lives lost.

In 1851 Edward purchased the "Glendiver Estate" which had been part of a Crown Grant made to a Robert Johnston in 1833. The estate was located about ten kilometers from Camden, NSW. Edward then divided this estate between his sons, Joseph, Robert and James. In 1854 the sons then purchased an additional 1400 acres, known as "Hardwick" and promptly sold 1000 acres back to their father.

The graves of many of the early Moores can be found at the Glenmore Uniting Church. This little church had its humble beginnings in the home of Robert Moore, who later gave some land to the Wesleyan Church to enable the construction of a church. The church, which opened in March 1860 had its foundation stone laid by Elizabeth Moore (Lomas). Elizabeth, who died in 1862, was the first Moore to be buried in the grounds of the church.