Moses Thomas

Moses Thomas

Moses Thomas was born in 1825 in Perthshire, Scotland. He arrived in Australia in 1842, and a year later married Janet Grierson.

Moses purchased the ‘Bridge Inn’ hotel and 400 acres of land in Morang, naming his farm ‘Mayfield’. He donated land and built the first school in the district, the Mernda State School, and it is believed he also built the Mayfield Presbyterian Church on Plenty Road in 1861.

Moses was a farmer, miller, innkeeper, and storekeeper. He was a clerk and surveyor to the late Morang Road Board, a member of the shire council of Whittlesea, and chairman of the local Board of Education.

Janet died in 1861, and Moses remarried Ann McLean the following year in 1862. Moses and Ann had 11 children to add to his already 7 children with Janet.

Moses died at the young age of 53 in 1878. He is buried at Yan Yean Cemetery.