The diary of

George Fletcher Moore George Fletcher Moore (10 December 1798 – 30 December 1886) was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one fthe key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite" (Cameron, 2000). He conducted a number of exploring ...

is an important record of early

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

life in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, because it is one of a few records that were written from the point of view of an ordinary colonist, as opposed to the official correspondence of a salaried public official.

Tom Stannage Charles Thomas Stannage, AM (14 March 19444 October 2012) was a prominent Western Australian historian, academic, and Australian rules football player. He edited the major work ''A New History of Western Australia'', which was published in 198 ...

describes the diary as "an immensely valuable social document" and "the best published guide we have to life in

Swan River colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

between 1830 and 1840."Stannage, C. T. (1978). ''Introduction'' to Facsimile edition of Moore (1884).

Background

Moore was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

lawyer who settled in the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

in 1830, the colony's second year. He describes his decision to keep a journal as follows:Moore, George Fletcher (1884). Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia, and also A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines. First published by M. Walbrook, London. Facsimile edition published in 1978 by University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia Moore's handwritten diary for the period from 1834 to 1841 is extant, and is held by the

State Library of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Culture and t ...

Editions

Portions of Moore's letters and diary have been published a number of times. The letters from 1830 to mid-1833 were published in 1834 as ''Extracts from the Letters and Journals of George Fletcher Moore, now filling a judicial office at the Swan River Settlement''. Publication was at the request of Moore's father Joseph, and may have been without George Fletcher Moore's knowledge. In the early 1880s, Moore's letters fell into the hands of Sir

Thomas Cockburn Campbell Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, 4th Baronet (18 April 1845 – 27 September 1892) was an English-born journalist and politician in Australia. __NOTOC__ Early life Cockburn-Campbell was born in Exeter, the second son of Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn ...

, editor of ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper. Cockburn Campbell sought and received Moore's permission to publish them in ''The West''. The letters appeared in serial during 1881 and 1882, and a copy of each issue was sent to Moore, who kept a scrapbook of them. In 1884, Moore decided to publish them afresh, together with a reprint of his 1842 ''

A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines ''A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia'' is a book by George Fletcher Moore. First published in 1842, it represents one of the earliest attempts to record the languages used by the Abo ...

''. These were published under the title ''Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia and also A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines''. Commonly referred to by the shorter title ''Diary of Ten Years'', this is the best known edition of Moore's diary. In 2006,

Hesperian Press Hesperian Press is a locally owned and operated book publisher located in Perth, Western Australia. Peter Bridge first published technical material in 1969. The business of Hesperian Press in its current format started in 1979. The Press republi ...

issued a version of Moore's diary and letters carefully edited and annotated by James Cameron under the title ''The Millendon Memoirs: George Fletcher Moore's Western Australian Diaries and Letters, 1830-1841''.

References

{{reflist Books about Western Australia Diaries History of Western Australia Moore, George Fletcher