Frances Moore
Frances Emily Mary Moore (nee Newcomen). State Library of New South Wales, reference MLMSS 10304.
Frances Emily Mary Moore (nee Newcomen) was born on 25 February 1863 in Paddington, New South Wales, the eldest daughter of Henry and Emily Newcomen. Her father was owner of Angledool Station, north of Lightning Ridge. She married Robert Lismore Moore in 1882, and together they would manage Angledool Station for over three decades, from the early 1870s until 1907, on behalf of the Australian Mercantile Land and Finance Company (AML&F). They had seven children.
In 1873, Robert Moore, a former gold and tin miner, took over management of Angledool Station and oversaw its transition from cattle to sheep. Frances kept meticulous diaries over 42 years (1880–1922). These journals are a rare and valuable record of family life, social activities, station management, and difficult bush life, providing a unique insight into life on Angledool Station and historical events of the period.
Her detailed diaries document her successful approach to eradicating alcohol from Angledool Station in the late 1800s, no mean feat in those early years. At one point, family sent Bob a case of fine wine, which Frances returned immediately!
Frances was particularly concerned with the welfare of women and children in the outback. During the 1901–02 drought she witnessed firsthand the impact of poverty and malnutrition among families in the west. In response, she wrote to ‘Gossip’ at The Stock and Station Journal, which led to her meeting with philanthropist Miss Grace Emily Munro. Together, they laid the foundation for what would become the Country Women’s Association (CWA), formed in 1922 and still one of Australia’s largest women’s organisations.
After leaving Angledool in 1907, the Moores briefly managed Bogamildi Station near Moree before retiring in 1911 to Coocooboonah, near Gunnedah. Frances passed away on 13 October 1941 in Orange, aged 78. She was buried at Gunnedah.
Signature of Francis Moore, sourced from correspondence provided by the family of Stuart Lloyd, LRHS collection.
Article: Research by Leisa Carney and Russell Gawthorpe, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: B. Upton, ‘Henry Newcomen, 1824-1884’, The Millstone, vol. 7 issue 2, March-April 2009; Frances Emily Mary Moore diaries, 1880-1922, MLMSS 10304.