Shep's Place Family Tree

After an initial few months at the Woolwich Depot, he served with the 10th Co at Woolwich and Chatham until December 1824 when he was transferred to the 13th Co at Woolwich, and then to Dublin in March 1825 for the Irish Survey. He was on detachment at Londonderry from April 1825 for some years, and here he married Christiana Davidson on 28 August 1825.

He left the Irish Survey ‎(sailed from Dublin 3 March 1838)‎ and landed at Woolwich on 7 March 1838. On the 5th July of the same year he dined with the rest of the Ordnance Troop upon Woolwich Common in Honour of Her Gracious Majesty's Coronation. The number of men, women and children belonging to the Ordnance was 5,888.

Robert and Christina left England on the "Recovery" on 7th May 1839 and landed at Old Port, South Australia on the 23 September 1839.
"Shipping: Sep ‎[10, 1839]‎ - The Recovery, 483 tons, commander, from London, May 19, with fifteen cabin passengers among whom is Lieut. Frome, Surveyor-General of the colony, 250 emigrants, and a detachment of the Sappers and Miners. Cargo, sundries." ‎(SA Register, 21 September 1839, p3D.)‎

"25 Sep 1839 - Our new Surveyor-General, Lieut Frome, RE, arrived last Wednesday by the Recovery, from London. He is accompanied by twelve of the Corps of Sappers and Miners, to assist in the survey. Their appearance at first startled some of our good townsfolk, who thought that a party of soldiers had been sent out to assist his Excellency in keeping us in order." ‎( South Australian newspaper, 25 Sep 1839, p3D.)‎

By October Robert was appointed as clerk and draftsman in the Survey Department of South Australia by Governor Gawler with a salary of 45 pounds 11 shillings & 9 pence. ‎(British Parliamentary Papers, Colonies - Australia, Sessions 1842-1844, p295.)‎

On 11 April 1842 whilst firing a salute in honour of the birth of the Duke of Cornwall ‎(later Prince of Wales)‎, a carronade ‎(a short wide-barrelled gun)‎ exploded accidentally while being reloaded. Robert, one of two men injured, required amputation of his left arm below the elbow and lost his right thumb. He was discharged from the Royal Sappers and Miners on 17 October 1842, having served for 21 years and 17 days. He was 39 years of age.

In Robert's own words: "1850 A year to be remembered ‎(myself, wife, Anna, Margaret and Fanny all converted to God, between May and September. Left Government Farm again 1st December 1856. Commenced Crown Lands Ranger this date also."

"Robert Harvey Moulton attested for the Royal Sappers and Miners at Woolwich, Kent, 16 November 1821. He stated his age to be 18 years and by trade a miner. The Description Book described him as 5 feet 6 3/4 inches tall, of fair complexion with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He was also able to read and write. Thus he embarked upon his military career that would eventually take him to South Australia."

"The Government Garden and Orchard at Belair - the first garden, planted as far back as 1849, was a large vegetable garden along the banks of the Tilti Creek. Corporal Robert Moulton, the Government Farm Supervisor at the time, lived in the first Government cottage built on the farm [now part of the Old Government House servants' quarters]‎ and, to feed his growing family, fenced off an area in which were cultivated peas, beans, carrots, cauliflowers, cabbages and potatoes. Three walnut trees were planted on the edge of the creek.

Mr. Moulton frequently complained to the authorities that he was having difficulties with the garden. He had to make improvements out of his own pocket and needed assistance with heavy labour. Added to this, a storm wrecked his vegetable crop and blew down the fences.

Willows and walnut trees were planted on the creek below Corporal Moulton's cottage before 1850, and a small plot there contained a few fruit trees, including a peach and a fig. The Moulton family lived on this site for about nine years, vacating their cottage when it was appropriated in 1857 for use as the kitchen annex to a new summer residence to be built for the Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell.

Considerable clearing and fencing was done on the central portion of the Government Farm in the mid to late 1850s. In Ausugst 1858 a request was made for a fence to be erected to separate the garden from Corporal Moulton's old cottage. The same painted post and fail fence would also separate it from the larger vice-regal cottage now under construction." ‎(Pam Tamblyn, "The Government Garden and Orchard at Belair," Newsletter of the Historical Society of SA, No 131, July 1997.)‎

In 1847 Robert was made "Superintendent of Government Farm."
In 1853 Robert joined the SA Police Department. He was a police constable from 1853 until he left service on 30 November 1856. ‎(South Australian Police Records, Acc No GRG 5/23/8 State Record Office.)‎

In 1853 Robert was a witness at his daughter Fanny Barbara's marriage to Abraham Bairstow at ‎[Holy]‎ Trinity Church, ‎[North Terrace]‎ Adelaide, and to his daughter Anna's marriage to David Chapman at Trinity Church in 1856.
In the electoral roll, House of Assembly, July 1874, his abode was given as Section 5017, Nairne, SA.

The informant on his death certificate was his son Richard James Moulton of Womboota, NSW.