←Menu of Letters 1896

Aet. 43, to his brother. George Moore’s financial obligation to the heirs of his uncle Joseph Blake was resolved in a mortgage dated 10 April 1896. In this document George acknowledged that he owed his uncle Llewellyn Blake, by virtue of a debt owed to Llewellyn’s late brother Joseph, the sum of £2,000 plus interest presumably charged since the late 1870s when the debt was incurred. George agreed to pay by 1 November 1896 and meanwhile assigned Moore Hall revenues to Llewellyn as collateral. One of Joseph’s heirs was his sister, the late Mary Blake Moore, so the debt was reduced by 1/6 from the outset. Catherine O’Conor was another heir.

George’s mention of “the funds” was shorthand for Consolidated Annuities (known as Consols) — perpetual bonds issued by the British government; and other gilt-edged securities (long-term government bonds considered extremely safe).