Lieutenant Joshua John Moore (1790–1864), a grazier and large owner of land by occupation, was born to John Moore, yeoman

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

, at Horningsea,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Not much is known about Moore's early life, until, on 25 December 1813, he was drafted into the Royal South Lincoln Militia and trained at Weden Barracks. By August the following year, he was promoted lieutenant, and in September he was transferred to the 14th Regiment of the Militia. It was this regiment which accompanied him in battle at Waterloo. Soon after, however, when he was placed on half-pay, Moore decided to accompany his brother in law,

John Wylde Sir John Wylde (or Wilde; 11 May 1781 – 13 December 1859) was Chief Justice of the Cape Colony, Cape of Good Hope and a judge of the Supreme Court of the colony of New South Wales born at Warwick Square, Newgate Street, London. Member o ...

, who had recently been appointed Judge advocate of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, to Sydney, They arrived on 5 October 1816, on a ship called the ''Elizabeth'', with Wylde making his official landing in the Governor's barge under a salute of thirteen guns on October 12. Moore was thereby appointed Registrar of the Governor's Court and a clerk to Wylde, at a salary of £80. In 1824 the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

was formally established, and Moore spent some time acting as a

prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

, until the following year, when his post was abolished. Among other later occupations, Moore became a pastoralist, and a great owner of land. Moore died on 27 July 1864, at Baw Baw.

Land ownership

In 1819, Moore was granted (by Macquarie) 500 acres (2 km²) of land at Cabramatta, near Liverpool. He called this piece of land

Horningsea Park Horningsea Park is a heritage-listed homestead at Camden Valley Way, Horningsea Park, City of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Joshua John Moore and built from 1830 to 1839. The property is owned by Liverpool City Co ...

. He lived at Horningsea until 1839, the year his first wife died. In August 1821, Moore took ownership on land in Baw Baw, where he was given of land and lived for the most part of his life. Among other things, Moore also took out, in October 1824, a ticket-of-occupation for over 2000 acres (8 km²) of land in an area where Canberra now exists, and in December 1826, he applied to buy some 1000 acres (4 km²) of land that he already occupied for over 3 years, 'situate at Canberry, on the E. bank of the river which waters

Limestone Plains Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The c ...

, above its junction with the Murrumbeeja, adjoining the grant of Mr Robert Campbell snr'. Moore was informed, 30 April 1827, that under the circumstances he would be allowed to retain possession of 1,000 acres "at Canberry, adjoining the grant of the Hon. Robert Campbell. Senior, Esq." Moore is known to have been the first pastoralist to ever occupy the land where Canberra, the capital of Australia, is situated presently, preceding Robert Campbell by approximately one year. Despite this, Moore did not take an interest or participate in the establishment and development of the district and area and never lived there.

Personal life

Moore married his first wife, Sarah Elizabeth, née Hollands (born to David Hollands of Bermondsey, Surrey, a shipowner and shipwright) on 29 March 1825. She, however, died, in 1839, aged 53. Survived by Moore and their only son, Frederick Thomas, Elizabeth was buried at Liverpool, where the two had married. Two years later, Moore married Ann Augusta, with whom he had four children: two girls and two boys. She was the child of Lieutenant John James Peters.

Additional Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Joshua John 1790 births 1864 deaths Settlers of Australia