The Moore-Walters family has held an annual reunion in Cessnock for 14 years now, and it keeps getting bigger every year.
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Reunion organiser Susan Croydon (Moore) said about 50 members of the family attended the reunion in Cessnock on Saturday, coming from as far as WA, Queensland and Victoria.
“Each year we have more new faces,” she said.
Ms Croydon said the reunion in Cessnock every October helps to keep the family’s memories alive.
“With a different theme each year the imagination of many go wild,” she said.
“There were activities for children indoors and outdoors and karaoke for everyone; fun and laughter took us all through the night.”
She said this year’s reunion was quite significant, with at least 10 family members celebrating a ‘decade’ birthday (ranging in age from 10 to 80).
The family is descended from Aaron Walters (born 1784), who was a seaman on the Broxbenbury Ship travelling to the Colony.
He met Susanna Lellement (born 1792), who was a convict but falsely accused of stealing lace.
Having had enough of sea life Aaron jumped ship and married Susanna in January 1815. They had eight children.
Australian cricket legend Doug Walters is among their descendants – his father and Ms Croydon’s maternal grandfather were brothers.