The ancestry of William Moore is uncertain. Sources have it that he (or they) originally are from Ireland (Reeves, 1985), perhaps descending from the Earls of Drogheda in Ireland (see The Heyliger family in the Caribbean).

William Moore married Adrienne Heyliger in 1779 and he owns in 1791 a plantation on St. Eustatius with 151 slaves (see text, from Gilmore, 2016).
Who is his father?

In 1746, 1758 and of 1766 a census was made of the population of St. Eustatius. A person William Moore is mentioned with the following data:
Census 1746: not present.
Census 1758: married, 2 sons, 1 female slave, 1 boy slave.
Census 1766: married, 2 sons, 1 daughter; 1 boy slave.
There is not a William Moore given on the St. Eustatius map of 1775 as plantation owner.
It is therefore likely, that this William is "William Moore Sr", the father of William the later plantation owner.

A further search revealed, that a person William Moore lived 1749 on St. Maarten (see map with St Maarten).
Census 1749 St. Maarten, taken at Fort Amsterdam: William Moore is married and has 1 daughter; he owns 12 male and 5 female slaves as well as 8 boy and 5 girl slaves.
This very likely is the William Moore "Sr" who later lives on St. Eustatius, without owning a plantation there.
Following Heather Nielsen, who refers to "Jaarboek 1973, p.167, of the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie", The Hague, Netherlands (see CARIBBEAN-L, rootsweb, 1999), William was member of the Episcopalian Church on St. Eustatius and his wife was Patricia Lilly.

That same St. Maarten census of 1749 shows that Abraham Heyliger is the "Vice Comm" of the Dutch part of St. Maarten. He is married and has 2 sons and 3 daughters; he owns 26 male and 22 female slaves as well as 8 boy and 6 girl slaves.
Is this Abraham a cousin of the Abraham Heyliger Sr., who in 1746 owns a plantation on St. Eustatius, and who will be the grandfather of Adrienne Heyliger?

Census St Eustatius 1748
Census   St Maarten   1749
Census St Eustatius 1758
Census St Eustatius 1766
Gilmore, R.G., 2016. In "African Re-Genesis"; Eds. J.B. Haviser, K.C. MacDonald; Routledge.
Reeves, M. (née Cameron), 1985. "A Strange Bird on the Lagoon", Boolarong Publications; ISBN 0908175 957.

(2017.04.13)