Thomas Moore (1762-1840) was born in Northumberland, and arrived in Sydney in 1792 as ship's carpenter on the 'Britannia'. In 1796 he was appointed Master Boatbuilder. A land grant on the Georges River allowed him to establish a home at Moore Bank, and the rest of his life was spent as a pastoralist and magistrate in Liverpool. He bequeathed his property to the Church of England.

Rachel Turner was convicted of theft and transported on the 'Lady Juliana' in 1790. She was appointed housekeeper to the colonial surgeon John White, with whom she had a son, Andrew. She married Thomas Moore in 1797.

Andrew White joined the British Army and served at the Battle of Waterloo, becoming Australia's only Waterloo veteran.

"In the town of Liverpool about 20 miles from Sydney, lives an old gentleman named Moore ... He was, I believe, of humble origin: indeed he has enjoyed few advantages of education, but has good sense and good principles."​

Henry Waterhouse (1770-1812) was an officer in the British Navy who imported the first merino sheep to Australia. He was a close friend of Thomas Moore, who managed Waterhouse's property in N.S.W.

"The Spanish wool & some of the wools of N.S. Wales I believe will shortly be an object of attention to Government, from which I think you may profit…​"

Bishop Frederic Barker used Thomas Moore's bequest to establish Moore Theological College, which opened in 1856 with 3 students. Additional buildings and a chapel were added to Moore's house. The Liverpool campus was closed in 1888.

"The Institution of which we are the first members owes its origin to the pious liberality of the late Thomas Moore Esquire, of this place, leaving the whole of his property to the Church of England who bequeathed a faction of the property same for the especial purpose of founding a College."