Briefly Belmore 31/10/11

Hello family, I have no news to report. My days are spent cleaning and doing all the usual 'Home duties' as 'housework' is called these days...

I did have Mum here for a week which was too short. It was lovely to see her and the kids did so enjoy her being here also.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERNICE, hope you have a lovely Halloween party. All the best :)

It's nigh on lunch time and I need to go to the bank so I'm going to bolt so I might hopefully beat the lunch hour rush.

Beautiful pics of Wendy's family and the sweet little addition to the family.

Love to all,

Sara xxxxx

Pilot Mound checking in at last!

Morning all. Yes, we are home, all is well. I haven't been able to check in, get too emotional, then decided to take the proverbial bull by the tail.....couldn't log on!!! Have had a serious time getting on, and tonight it just came straight up, and I didn't sign in or anything!! Hope it posts.
We are heading for Pincher at first light tomorrow...that being about 7-30 am, or if the promised fog eventuates, maybe later!
I have so many 'Thank you' notes to make, but will do it when we get back, along with comments on the notes on the blog....SOOOOOOOO good to have people dropping in!!! Much love to all. Mona

Canberra here again

Just a quick note to say hi and to Wendy and little Dexter how you have grown and look wonderful. I think we need a family get together as the family is growing and I for one would like to meet our new additions.

No news but Meggy, how one can procrastinate when one does not want to write selection criteria is amazing! I am doing lots of procrastinating. But I am getting there slowly. i am like you and just have been so lucky to get jobs without all this interview stuff. But times have changed.

Hope everyone is well. Belinda x

Wendys lot

From our screwed up face little boy.... to our chubby cheeked fighter.

From our spread eagled breeched baby.... to our little kicker.

And from the nervous, scared and anxious family.... to a more relaxed and happy family.

Sarah - Nanna Payt's mum

My great, great grandmother

Sarah Ann Bridget Moore – later Baker.

(9/4/1889 – 16/4/1953)

Lawrence and Mary’s girls were all quite
different from each other in appearance. Amy was very tall (5 feet 10 inches) with light brown hair and fair
skin. She had greenish hazel eyes. Sarah was almost as tall as Amy with a full
figure. Her eyes were probably grey. The other girls were several inches
shorter. Kate had dark brown or black
hair, hazel eyes and a very small waist. Maude was as small, with long, dark hair. She had a 16 inch waist.

Sarah was a very modest person. In her teens she was thrown from a horse onto
a jagged stump and injured her buttocks. She had gone into what she thought was an empty room to put on some ointment. She was so intent on watching the door to
make sure no one came in while she had her skirt lifted that she failed to
notice her father had come in before her and was sitting on the bed. He coughed to announce his presence and she
was so embarrassed she ran away.

Sarah and Herbert Seymour (Bert) Baker were
married at her father’s house in Goodooga on 12 August 1905. She was 16 years old. Sarah’s children included: Amy Edna Mary
(Edna); Charlotte Cicily (Lottie – Nanna Payt); Herbert Henry (Harry); Merlean
Sylvia; John Lawrence (Laurie); Sylvester Clyde (Clyde) and Cynthia.

Lottie (Nanna Payt) was born on 3 August 1907.

One night, in 1915 – let’s say, Bert went to
Sarah’s sister Amy’s house, and asked her to go and get Sarah. He said he had been set up on a cattle
stealing charge, and they had to leave that night for Queensland. He was unable to return home because his own
house was too close to the police station.

(What a great story!)

He regularly sent money to Sarah, who stayed in
Goodooga, where she shared a house with her mother, Mary.

Bert wrote on a postcard to his niece on 3 July
1915: “I saw some of your uncles yesterday. Dick hasn’t got a beard yet but all the others look like bush rats. Frank’s beard is red. They only had about ¾ of a mile of fence to
put up and bore and about 3 miles to wire and then they will start a horse
paddock. I haven’t got a beard. I shave now. I look too grizzly with a beard”.

(It’s incredible to think

that these words were written

by my great, great grandfather!)

Nanna Payt said Bert drew a block of land,
probably near Morven in Queensland, and agisted stock on it. He built a mud hut out of ant hills and
wanted Sarah and the family to come and join him. She did not, probably because she had been
urged against it by one of Bert’s sister’s who considered life there would be
too hard, with no school and little food. The property was later bought by one of Bert’s sisters. (I wonder if it was the one who told Sarah
not to go...)

Bert took up droving and managed properties
around Hughenden.

Bert died on 18 August 1951 after being knocked
off his bike. He was buried in St George
cemetery. Sarah died at Bathurst
Hospital on 16 April 1953 and was buried at Bathurst.

Now we are up to Nanna Payt –

Charlotte Baker...

Could someone finish the story?

Convict Lawrence's Grandson

My great, great, great grandfather Lawrence

was born on the 18^th of June,

in either 1844 or 1845.

(This Lawrence is the grandson

of our convict Lawrence.)

He died on the

28^th of November in 1924.

It seems he was born in Newtown.

This Lawrence was a little elusive

and has caused some headaches

for our researcher, Melanie O’Flynn.

(And not just because

of name confusion...

Lawrence married a Mary,

just like his grandfather! )

It seems this Lawrence

filled in forms using

a slightly different name each time.

(Makes me wonder

what he was trying to hide!)

There may have been a

family scandal or argument,

because he doesn’t seem

to have had much connection

with the other members

of the family in Ilford.

(Of course, this could be

absolutely wrong – but I love

the thought of a

good old-fashioned scandal

in the 1840’s and 1850’s!)

Once Lawrence married Mary Anderson,

on the 5^th of June 1869,

he was traceable again.

They married at the Police Office

in South West Queensland – at St George.

(The fact that he was married

at a Police Office

suggests that he hadn’t

been changing his name

to evade capture for criminal activity!)

Lawrence was 24 when he married

and Mary was 19.

Great, great, great grandmother Mary

was unable to write her name

on her marriage certificate.

(There is information on Mary’s family –

which I can write about later.)

Lawrence worked as a labourer

and a stockman.

He became a selector

when he took up “Dhuroo”,

a block of land on Brenda Station.

(June used to talk to me

about Brenda Station!)

Lawrence and Mary had eleven children

and only lost two as babies.

Their eldest child was a son.

He was aptly named Lawrence.

He was born in St George.

The next five children were born

in different places, suggesting

that the family moved around

while Lawrence worked as a stockman.

The last five children were born

at “Dhuroo”, on Brenda Station,

on the Culgoa River near Goodooga

in northern New South Wales.

The baby of the family

was born on the 9^th of April in 1889,

when her mother, Mary,

was 40 years old.

At the time, Lawrence

was working as a labourer.

The baby was apparently christened

Ann but was known as Sarah –

Sarah Ann Bridget Moore.

Sarah was Nanna Payt’s mother.

Thanks to Nanna Payt,

there are stories about life on Dhuroo...

stories about Sarah –

my great, great grandmother

and stories about

Sarah’s mother, Mary.

More to come...

Again... Thanks to Melanie
O’Flynn for her incredible research and dedication. Because of her, we know our family.

Great, Great, Great Grandmother Mary

My great, great, great

grandmother Mary Moore

(Mary married Lawrence. Because these memories and stories come from Nanna Payt, they are about
her mother and grandmother more than her grandfather Lawrence, who seems to
have been away much of the time.)

Sarah was very young when the famous flood of 1890 hit.

This flood was remembered over a wide area of
Southern Queensland and northern New South Wales as one of the highest floods
in the Darling system since European settlement.

Brenda Station alone lost 26 000 sheep.

Lawrence had taken his dray to pick up supplies
and because of the heavy condition of the country following the rain; the trip
took longer than expected. The flood in
the Culgoa arrived while he was away. The house was on one sand hill and their animals on the other, both
surrounded by water, and Amy, Sarah’s sister, who was about 12 at the time, had
to wade through chest deep water to milk the cows. The family was left with very little to eat,
except for flour and a dish of rendered fat. When Lawrence returned, the first thing he did was to set up camp and
bake a damper. After a while on reduced rations,
this was very welcome.

The Aborigines used to stop at “Dhuroo” on their
way to Goodooga from a big camp. Mary
and the younger children could speak with them in their language, Murrawarri. (Today,
having lost so many Australian Aboriginal languages, I’m so proud that my
great, great, great grandmother could speak an Aboriginal language!)

Later, when Mary was living in Goodooga, Nanna
Payt remembers Mary sitting on the verandah every Thursday and speaking to the
Aborigines in their own language while they waited for the policeman to issue
vouchers for their rations.

Mary used to spend a lot of time sitting and
talking to an Aboriginal woman called Kitty who was employed by Sarah to help
with housework. Nanna Payt recalled that
when Sarah engaged Kitty’s services from the police she was told she was not
expected to provide meals, but Sarah shared whatever food the family had –
bread and fat, golden syrup, plum jam and “a limited piece of meat sometimes,
mostly goat”.

The Moores left “Dhuroo” and moved to Goodooga,
probably in the early 1900’s. Sarah was
married in 1905 at her father’s home in Goodooga.

As an old lady, Mary lived with her daughter Sarah. Although the house was very small, it was
comfortable; the men had nailed boards over the joins in the rounded timber
walls to give the walls a smoother finish, and Sarah’s husband Bert had lined
the walls of the sitting room with floral floorcloth to resemble wallpaper.

“Granny Moore” had a little room where she slept
and kept her few possessions (e.g. the boy’s war medals and things they had
sent home from overseas) in a little wooden box in the corner. In later life, Mary had learned to sign her
name and read.

Sarah Payton remembers Mary, her mother, as being
kind and quiet – not shy, just didn’t talk much. She was short (about 5 foot 3) and round, and
she could only shuffle about because of her rheumatism. She had white hair down past her shoulders
and liked to sit outside while Nanna Payt combed it.

Mary died at the house in Goodooga on 9 March
1923 and was buried in the Church of England section of the local cemetery.

When Lawrence was living in Goodooga he used to
bathe up to 5 or 6 times a day at the artesian bore head, apparently to relieve
rheumatism. He used to rise early and go
down and soak until breakfast time, and would go back after breakfast and again
at lunch and, if it was light enough, after tea. He was a tall, thin, white man who rarely
spoke to the children, or even his wife.

When Lawrence returned, after being away for many
years, he was suffering from dropsy and had to keep both arms bandaged because
of fluid seeping from his skin. These
bandages had to be changed and washed frequently.

Lawrence died on the 28^th of November
1924. He was buried the next day at
Thallon cemetery. He was 81.

Taken
from “Lawrence Moore Of “Dhuroo”, son of Daniel” – Notes Compiled for the
descendants of Lawrence Moore (1845 – 1924), compiled by Melanie O’Flynn in
2005.

My Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather - Daniel

Daniel was Convict Lawrence’s second son.

He was born in Ireland in 1811...

Or, at least...

between 1811 and 1813.

(What’s a year or two?!)

He travelled to Australia

on the Thames in 1826

with his mother, Mary

and his brother John.

In 1828, 17 year old Daniel

was apprenticed to a blacksmith

in Sydney’s George Street.

The first of Daniel and Margaret’s

children were born in Maitland.

Their next child was born

at Paterson’s River.

He also worked at

Brandon and Abbotsford.

By the time our next Lawrence

was born, in 1845,

Daniel was living in Sydney again.

Soon after Lawrence was born,

Daniel moved to Mudgee.

By 1860, Daniel settled in Ilford

(luckily – the moves were making me dizzy!).

He was a blacksmith,

on a village block he had purchased

on the 7^th of May 1860.

His brother, Michael,

owned an inn in the area.

Daniel and Margaret’s children were:

Daniel (born in 1835),

Mary (born around 1837),

Ellen (born around 1840),

Catherine (born around 1842) &

Lawrence (born around 1844).

There were another two sons

and two daughters,

but they were not living

at the time of Daniel’s death

and nothing is known about them.

Only Daniel’s, Mary’s and Lawrence’s

births were listed in the

NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages index,

suggesting our Daniel was not

a stickler for formalities.

There is no other information

in the Family Book –

which just proves that the

convict stories are more interesting!

Daniel died in Ilford on 15^th July 1868

of a ruptured blood vessel.

He was buried at Round Swamp.

Daniel’s gravestone

has been restored and reads:

Sacred to the Memory of Daniel Moore

who departed this life July 16^th
1868

aged 52 years.

May he rest in peace.

All you that my grave do see,

prepare yourselves to follow me

repent in time

make no delay,

for I in haste was called away.

Erected by his affectionate

sister-in-law, Maria Moore.

Daniel and Margaret’s son

Lawrence - who was born on

18^th June 1844 or 1845

and died on 28^th November 1924,

was Nanna Payt’s grandfather.

He’s the next chapter

of our family story.

(Once again, many thanks to Melanie O’Flynn, for her incredible work in
researching our history!)

My Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather - Daniel

Daniel was Convict Lawrence’s second son.

He was born in Ireland in 1811...

Or, at least...

between 1811 and 1813.

(What’s a year or two?!)

He travelled to Australia

on the Thames in 1826

with his mother, Mary

and his brother John.

In 1828, 17 year old Daniel

was apprenticed to a blacksmith

in Sydney’s George Street.

The first of Daniel and Margaret’s

children were born in Maitland.

Their next child was born

at Paterson’s River.

He also worked at

Brandon and Abbotsford.

By the time our next Lawrence

was born, in 1845,

Daniel was living in Sydney again.

Soon after Lawrence was born,

Daniel moved to Mudgee.

By 1860, Daniel settled in Ilford

(luckily – the moves were making me dizzy!).

He was a blacksmith,

on a village block he had purchased

on the 7^th of May 1860.

His brother, Michael,

owned an inn in the area.

Daniel and Margaret’s children were:

Daniel (born in 1835),

Mary (born around 1837),

Ellen (born around 1840),

Catherine (born around 1842) &

Lawrence (born around 1844).

There were another two sons

and two daughters,

but they were not living

at the time of Daniel’s death

and nothing is known about them.

Only Daniel’s, Mary’s and Lawrence’s

births were listed in the

NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages index,

suggesting our Daniel was not

a stickler for formalities.

There is no other information

in the Family Book –

which just proves that the

convict stories are more interesting!

Daniel died in Ilford on 15^th July 1868

of a ruptured blood vessel.

He was buried at Round Swamp.

Daniel’s gravestone

has been restored and reads:

Sacred to the Memory of Daniel Moore

who departed this life July 16^th 1868

aged 52 years.

May he rest in peace.

All you that my grave do see,

prepare yourselves to follow me

repent in time

make no delay,

for I in haste was called away.

Erected by his affectionate

sister-in-law, Maria Moore.

Daniel and Margaret’s son

Lawrence - who was born on

18^th June 1844 or 1845

and died on 28^th November 1924,

was Nanna Payt’s grandfather.

He’s the next chapter

of our family story.

(Once again, many thanks to Melanie O’Flynn, for her incredible work in
researching our history!)

My great, great, great, great great grandfather

Being Australian

we wouldn’t be happy

if we didn’t have

a convict in our family.

(You know the ads.,

where people pretend

to be mortified that a convict

is their ancestor –
but, secretly...

they’re proud...

I recently met up with our own convict.

He was convicted

on two accounts of break and enter!

Two accounts!

(I was so impressed!)

His name was Lawrence Moore.

If it wasn’t for Lawrence,

we would still be living in Ireland.

When he was convicted,

Lawrence was a ploughman;

aged 40 with dark hair,

freckles and grey eyes.

(grey eyes... I’ve had them)

Lawrence
was packed into a convict ship

on the 4^th of November 1821.

The ship left Cork

and sailed off to Australia.

Once on board, Lawrence was given one jacket, one pair of trousers, one pair of
shoes, two shirts, two pairs of stockings, two handkerchiefs, one cap, one
comb, one brush, one towel, thread and needle and a bag to store these
wonderful gifts!

His ship made a relatively uneventful journey.

Lawrence would have been on deck by 7am each day. The convicts had to roll up their
bedding and were made to wash after every meal. He came aboard in irons, but...
hopefully, his behaviour was so impressive that he was down to one iron before
long. Perhaps he was so well-behaved that he was able to walk without any irons
on his legs... but, there were those two
break and enters...

His ship was the Isabella I.

There were 239 on board,

including 200 prisoners.

Only one life was lost –

a lady had a miscarriage

and failed to recover.

Her body was “committed to the deep”.

Records show nothing

about serious illness for our Lawrence.

(This is a good thing...

It seems that laxatives and blood letting

were used to solve all medical problems,

even pneumonia...

... it’s no wonder the lady never recovered!)

The voyage took 125 days.

Arriving in Sydney Cove,

the ship stayed at anchor

for a few more days.

New clothes were issued to them all –

No doubt because theirs

had become filthy tatters.

They were passed religious books

and prepared to dismount.

(After limited education,

Lawrence was only able to

sign his name with an X.)

Lawrence was passed over to a farmer

and his new life began.

Eventually, his wife Mary

was brought over,

with two of their children.

Their eldest son, followed later.

At one point, Lawrence
and the family lived
in George Street in Sydney...

and had three cows.

(In George Street - imagine!)

George St,
Sydney in 1828

While working as a labourer,

it seems he was also a milkman.

(He must have been doing ok –

he had a labourer working for him.)

Lawrence died on the

8^th of October 1836. He was 53.

His wife, my
great, great, great, great,

great grandmother Mary

died on the 19^th of November 1852.

Lawrence’s
second son was Daniel

And from him, our story continues...

Nanna Payt was Lawrence's

great, great granddaughter.

(If anyone has memories of Nanna Payt they would like to share, I'd love to hear them. I have written a "Family Book", starting with June. I'd love to add another generation to the book! I will continue the story, when I get it organised. Thanks to Melanie O"Flynn, for writting the "Lawrence Moore of "Dhuroo" son of Daniel" book, where the information for this post came from & thanks to Aunty Mona, for sharing the book with me. Carol)

Anna Bay

Hello all,
What a surprise to get on here and actually see other postings other than my sisters and my own!!!! Took a little Aunty 1000s of km away to stoke you all into action.
Good on you Aunty Kell.
Lovely photos Wendy, I love looking back on the photos that Dad took of us kids out in the paddocks and in the flood waters and your little ones will appreciate and remember those photos in years to come.
Its a dogs life for sure Belinda, and that one looks like it never wants to wake up. Good luck with the CV. I just had a joke of an interview today, a pseudo interview. I was suppose to have it yesterday but had a mandatory training day and couldnt make it so a phone interview was organised for this am at 9. I had never done a phone interview before and didn't think I would have too much trouble with it. However by 9:30 and still no call so I called them!!!!! They forgot. I said well you don't want to fill the position to badly. And if you did without interviewing me you would miss out on having the best person for the job. I think I have the position, they are sending me paperwork to sign off on. AND I didn't have to interview. So what I will do when I get there is ask where the cleaning cupoard is and say that I thought it was a cleaners position. That will shake them up. Our whole health system is a bloody joke let me tell you.
Mark come home and lets see what we can do with that leg of yours, you certainly have been through hell and back with it. But I did say first off get it operated on!!! No one ever listens to me!!!! So pleased that you are able to get about without the debilatating crutches and minimal pain.
Talking about pain, my little boy is out at Condobolin pruning pomaganate trees , then he will be on the watermelons, once that is finished Paul said he may get him a traineeship in Ag, oh yeah I can see that happening. He has wrinkles with him and she is loving the bush life again, Marcus is keen to put her onto the pigs and once the melons are on I dare say so will the pigs be. He is happy and that is the main thing.
Kenny when you retire and tile the bird cages then you folks might like to come up my way and have a visit. WE can take that boat ride we never got around to doing.
Pete is arriving tomorrow with his daughter for the weekend. We have a dance demo to do on Saturday morning then will go down to the Entrance for the chrome festival and do a bit of dancing down there. Looking forward to it.
My roster is pretty well booked up now until the end of December, I was the fortunate cookie to score working over the christmas period, but thats ok, there are staff there with litte ones and i would rather them have the time off.
I miss out on Kells formal and am not too happy about that. I am working on seeing if someone will take pity on me and take a couple of shifts and swap so I dont lose my hours so that I can go out there. She is so beautiful and took my breath away when I saw her dressed up for a trial run. Liz would have been so proud and girl I know that you will melt your Dads heart. Glad his tooth is all better now, a hell of a distance to travel to get to a dentist but worth the effort to get here and to be pain free,. Nothing worse than dental pain.
Well team I have to do the finishing touches before I head off for another night of mystery presentations, and to Dr Palo who has just spent a week out at Bourke. So we have a bit of catching up to do. Hope everyone is well and happy.
Love Meg and her men. xxxxxxx