Kerin Mosher
Family history
Time marches on and family history dissolves unless it is documented. The lengthy COVID lockdowns in Melbourne gave me the gift of time to record, in very different ways, my maternal and paternal family history. Quite by chance, both families were first white settlers. My mother’s family line traces back to Dr Arndell, a surgeon on the First Fleet, while my father’s family stems from John Howland, a pilgrim on the Mayflower.
By coincidence rather than initial interest, I became the keeper and connector of all the family history. Fortunately I had the foresight to record Mum’s life story before she died and that became the basis of Family Recollections. Because of the discrepancies between her verbal account and the information at hand today, I chose to write in conversation form, showing both sides of the same story. My aim was to pass on our family history to my grandchildren who are dual citizens of Australia and America. I began with the arrival of the First Fleet and wove in our ancestors from settlement, through the struggles of early family life, The Great Depression, World War II, the aftermath and eventually finishing with my mother’s death in 2010.
The Mosher Family Tree came into being through a chain of coincidences. Originally Huguenots, the family crossed the seas on the Mayflower, endured King Philip's War, between the white settlers and the American Indians, and finally settled on Martha’s Vineyard. In 1862, George Harvey Mosher left Martha’s Vineyard, on board a ship for Sydney, where he met and eventually married Sarah Anne Martin. The family was therefore divided on opposite sides of the world for many years until fate played a reconnecting role between Jane Slater and me.
The American War of Independence, family life and character studies of its members, in both America and Australia, are retold in this book. Overriding this information are the uncanny coincidences that brought it all together thanks in part to Jennifer Mosher, the Managing Director. It was while I was staying with Jane, on Martha’s Vineyard, that Jennifer made contact, enquiring about the Mosher family tree. The last piece of the puzzle was finally in place thanks to Jennifer who connected all my generation in Australia.
