Frank Moorhouse place of birth Nowra
Early life
Moorhouse was born in Nowra, New South Wales, the youngest of three boys, born to a New Zealand-born father, Frank Osborne Moorhouse, OAM, and mother, Purthanry Thanes Mary Moorhouse (nee Cutts), OAM. His mother was a direct descendent of John Boden Yeates (1807-1861), a British convict transported to Australia in 1837. His father was an inventor of agricultural machinery who, together with his wife, established a factory in Nowra to make machinery for the dairy industry. Both his parents were active leaders in the community.
Moorhouse was a constant reader from an early age and often spoke of the his desire to be a writer after reading Alice in Wonderland while bed-ridden for months from a serious accident when he was 12. The book was given to him by his sister-in-law, Muriel Moorhouse (nee Lewis,) on her first ever visit to Nowra to meet the Moorhouse family. "After experiencing the magic of this book, I wanted to be the magician who made the magic."
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