Ann Bailey Moore

Photo: Ann Bailey Moore Birth Certificate

My search for further records in the St Philip’s Church records continued. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found the birth certificate of Ann Bailey Moore. She was born in Sydney on the 24 June, 1822. She was the daughter of Joseph and Ann Moore and she was my 2nd great-grandmother! This intrigued me; so where were her parents and my 3rd great-grandparents Joseph and Ann from? St Philip’s had no records dating back earlier than 1820, but I was advised to go to the National Library in Sydney where all the records, since the First Fleet to Australia, were available for research. I was beside myself; I had now traced our Australian ancestors back to the early 1800s. What other exciting information would be lurking in the dusty library archives?

My sweet, accommodating husband Steve and I planned a trip to the National Library for the following weekend. I wanted to look for possible records of Joseph and Ann Moore. On the Friday before our trip and because I now had the names Joseph and Ann Moore, I spent a few hours on the internet researching their names. I found a National Library document which mentioned an archived box that had been presented to the library in October 2003 by a lady Mrs Nerida Hooten. I later found out that her maiden name was Moore!

On the Saturday, we were up at the crack of dawn to catch the train into Sydney to visit the National Library.