Moss family
In 2013 I published a large blog in my Olney Family Archives with only a very small comment about Doris Moss. All we knew about her was that she was born in New Zealand in 1896, her mother died when she was a very young child, and that she was probably brought up in an orphanage and married Arthur Olney at the age of 19. My husband Peter Olney was the grandson of Doris Moss.
It was incredible how much I learnt about Doris in just a few months. I discovered that her mother Matilda died in 1898 in South Australia, and Doris was brought up by the Glasson family, the family of her mother's deceased first husband Archibald Glasson. Doris had a baby brother Claude, born 10 weeks before his mother died. He was brought up by his father's eldest brother Valentine Moss in New Zealand.
Doris' father Clement Moss went to the Boer War in 1898 and ended up in England. In September 1913 Clement married Emily Swift and they had four children born 1914 - 1921. Could one of those children still be alive? Yes, Vera Ames born 1914 and Kathleen Wood born 1921 were still alive and living in Worthing. Their brothers Clement born 1916 and Cyril born 1919 had passed away.
I made contact with the family and to my delight they accepted the revelation that their father had a family in Australia and New Zealand. To think that for over 100 years neither families knew of each others existence. My son Darren (great grandson of Doris) and I decided that while we were in England in 2016 we would meet our newly discovered family.
A train trip from Victoria Station to Worthing, taking 1 hour 20 minutes, was undertaken. Darren and I had the opportunity to meet the two sisters Vera and Kath (including her son Trevor Wood and his son Peter). The sisters were very alert, fed off each other with enthusiasm and engaged easily in conversation. They accepted Darren and I as family and the likeness with their half sister Doris Moss was evident. The family assured me that Clement Moss was an excellent husband, father and family man.
A train trip from Victoria Station to Worthing, taking 1 hour 20 minutes, was undertaken. Darren and I had the opportunity to meet the two sisters Vera and Kath (including her son Trevor Wood and his son Peter). The sisters were very alert, fed off each other with enthusiasm and engaged easily in conversation. They accepted Darren and I as family and the likeness with their half sister Doris Moss was evident. The family assured me that Clement Moss was an excellent husband, father and family man.
There was a lot of talk about St Helena where their father Clement was born. The two ladies went to St Helena in 2004 when Vera was 90 and Kath 83. St Helena was where Napoleon was exiled and after Napoleon died in 1821 Isaac Moss took up residence in "Longwood House" and knew Napoleon well. Darren became quite excited that his great great great great grandfather Isaac Moss had this connection with Napoleon. We decided to go to Paris for 4 days to seek out some Napoleon points of interest - Le Louvre, Chateau de Malmaison, his tomb at Les Invalides Military Museum etc.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity of meeting Vera and Kath a second time, this time with Geoffrey and Jan Whitcombe. Geoffrey was instrumental in making contact with Ian Moss, the grandson of Clement Moss, in 2014 on my behalf.
Unfortunately Kathleen Wood passed away on 29 July 2018. I am so pleased I was able to meet her.
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| Darren and I met Doris Moss' two sisters Vera & Kath, her son Trevor and his son Peter |
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| The English Moss family met the Australian Moss family |
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| Kath Wood (97) and Vera Ames (103) |
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| Vera Ames and Kath Wood Geoffrey & Jan Whitcombe |
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| Sisters Kath Wood and Vera Ames Half 1st great aunts of my husband Peter Olney |
Darren and I visited Veronica Moss in Southend-on-Sea. We caught a train from Fenchurch Station to Southend-On Sea and enjoyed a lunch together. In the afternoon we also had a phone conversation with Veronica's sister Ulla in Sweden.
Veronica grew up in remote India and came to London when she was 17. She went on to become a medical doctor. Veronica's father Clement Frederick Moss was a missionary in India for many years. Veronica launched MVHS (Missionaries and Volunteers Health Service) in 1986. A remarkable example set in the provision of care and education for people living with HIV. Veronica was also instrumental in establishing Mildway International, a registered charity delivering quality care and treatment, prevention work, rehabilitation, training, education and health strengthening in the U.K and East Africa. Their mission statement is "Our inspiration and values derive from our Christian foundations. These values enriched and shared by many people, including those of other faiths and of no religious faith underpin all our work". Veronica was Chairman of the Board until 2014 and took a leadership role at Mildmay Hospital.
Veronica grew up in remote India and came to London when she was 17. She went on to become a medical doctor. Veronica's father Clement Frederick Moss was a missionary in India for many years. Veronica launched MVHS (Missionaries and Volunteers Health Service) in 1986. A remarkable example set in the provision of care and education for people living with HIV. Veronica was also instrumental in establishing Mildway International, a registered charity delivering quality care and treatment, prevention work, rehabilitation, training, education and health strengthening in the U.K and East Africa. Their mission statement is "Our inspiration and values derive from our Christian foundations. These values enriched and shared by many people, including those of other faiths and of no religious faith underpin all our work". Veronica was Chairman of the Board until 2014 and took a leadership role at Mildmay Hospital.
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| Fenchurch Station to Southend-on-sea to visit Veronica Moss |
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| Lunch with Veronica Moss at Southend-on-sea |
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| Veronica Moss - Half 1st cousin x1 removed of my husband Peter Olney |
I also had the privilege of having a coffee with Dominie Newton Dunn, the grand daughter of Vera and Kath's brother Cyril Moss.
A very interesting story evolved after meeting Dominie. A few days earlier Darren and I had met Charlotte and Dan at The Anchor for drinks. Darren had known Charlotte and Dan in Melbourne and they had just 3 weeks earlier returned to London. Charlotte revealed her interest in family history and that she had just done a DNA test with Ancestry. She was very interested to hear about my Blogs and my story of how I discovered the Moss family.
It just happened that Charlotte and Dominie were old university friends and met at a reunion a few weeks after I had met them individually. Charlotte and Dominie started talking about a lady they had recently met who had a wonderful story to tell. "She had discovered her husband's grandmother had been given away to another family after her mother died when she was 2 years old. Her father went to England and married in 1913. They had 4 children. Now 100 years later the English and Australian families have met each other". I was that lady!
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| Coffee with Dominie Newton Dunn in London Grand daughter of Cyril Moss (brother of Vera, Clement and Kath)
Feel free to take a look at my other blogs on
https://sites.google.com/site/joysblogs123/
You may be particularly interested in
http://olneyfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
Including family history posts
"Doris Moss, Napoleon & St.Helena"
"Doris Moss, Convicts & Norfolk Island"
"Doris Moss and her extended family" Also http://solomonmossfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au and go to posts "Napoleon's Picnic at "The Briars" 200 years later" "Our Tribute to Napoleon - 200 years later"
The author of this Blog, Joy Olney can be contacted on joyolney@gmail.com
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