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Francis Moran arrived on the
Mary Anne in 1822
and travelled to Newcastle later that year. He accepted a medical
appointment replacing
William Evans and became an
early land owner at Hunter's River.
He
was
a member of the 48th Regiment and was appointed
assistant surgeon at Port Macquarie after
Abraham
Fenton
in 1824.
Dr. Moran was probably in Port Macquarie in 1825 when one of his assigned servants
at the Hunter River estate
absconded, and with other runaways from the farm of
Vicars Jacob,
formed a gang of bushrangers known as
Mr. Jacob's Irish Brigade (Jacob's Mob)
This gang terrorised the district for months.
In June 1827, Moran announced
he was retiring from his position in the Public Service Medical
Department at Port Macquarie. At this time he had not decided whether to
enter his profession in Sydney or retire to his estate at Hunter River
however by February 1828, he was living in Pitt Street Sydney while his
farm was leased out.
The farm called Duck
River Farm he leased to
William Bucknell
in June 1828 for £100 per annum.
The property consisted of a dwelling house and out
offices and a large farm; the ground, cultivated with
corn and potato crops, was fenced in and surrounded the
dwelling house. Moran and the Bucknell family were in conflict over a wheat crop
and Moran evicted the family from the property when William's daughter and
young son were present, William having left the farm to attend Court. The Bucknells then moved to Elmshall
at Vacy.
John Eales
marriage to Jane Lavers took place at
their residence at Vacy at this time. Later the Bucknells moved
to the nearby property belonging to Dr. Short.
An
overseer was employed to run Moran's estate in his
absence. In 1828
Bryan Spolin (Spalding) who had arrived on the
Britannia in
1797 was overseer. His wife Mary was employed as a
dairywoman. Servants assigned to Dr. Moran who worked
under Spolin in 1828 were John Skycroft, John Buckley
and William Bullingham.
Francis Moran resided at Newcastle or his Hunter River
estate in the years 1829 to 1831. He successfully treated children afflicted
with whooping cough in 1829 and was present when the
Lord Liverpool
ran
aground at Newcastle in
1831.
Read about his contribution to the rescue here
In 1832 Moran travelled to India where he remained for some
years before returning Australia. When he returned he was already unwell,
having been plagued with rheumatism for years and under the effects of an
intemperate lifestyle. He took lodging in Pitt Street Sydney at the house of
Mr. Quinn. Within a few months of his return he was in trouble with the
authorities and was imprisoned for 'an impropriety of conduct in the Police
Office'. Although he was released the next day, from that time he complained
of pains in his limbs and became confined to his bed for several weeks,
attended by an elderly man Miles MacDonald. As his end neared he became
delirious, requesting MacDonald to remove his boots, although his feet were
bare, and taking excessive doses of laudanum. After his death an inquest
into his death by Dr. Hosking at Wood's Hotel in Pitt Street, found that he
had died of disease induced by intemperate habits. Mr. Quinn was to apply to
the Commander of the Military Forces to establish whether Dr. Moran was to
be buried with Military Honours
Francis Moran sold his 1000 acres at the Hunter River to H.
Osborne who later sold it to
John Eales. Duckenfield House was then built on this property by John Eales.
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