John Moubray (or Mowbray) was born at Letham Farm, Inverkeithing, in 1774, a few months after his father died. His early years were spent with his mother's family close to the Moor of Muckhart, at the foot of the Ochil Hills. He later moved to Cambus where he started to farm on his own account.
With the farming part of his business in full swing, John decided to branch out, and in 1806 he converted a disused mill in Cambus, situated on the banks of the River Devon close to where it meets the Forth, into a malt distillery.
Cambus Distillery
1806 - Cambus Distillery founded.
1813 - John Moubray registers the distillery business.
1820 - The distillery is noted as having a 900 gallon wash still, a 483 gallon low wines still, and having produced 19,861 gallons of spirit between November 1820 and February 1821. (Excise Records)
1823 - John buys the distillery land and surrounding area.
1835 - he becomes a co-partner in the Alloa Coal Company.
Now in a position to secure cheap coal supplies to his distillery, in 1836 he installs two Stein patent stills to distil grain whisky.
1837 - John Moubray dies.
1842 - James Moubray, John's eldest son, takes over the business, as James Moubray & Co.
1843 - James Moubray& Co. is dissolved, having become bankrupt, and the distillery is passed on to Robert Moubray, John's second son.
1851 - Robert modernises the distillery with the addition of a Coffey still, (licence issued 11 march 1851) giving a production boost of 250 gallons per hour. The expansion meant that Cambus was now one of the largest grain distilleries in Scotland.
The family also take shares in Alloa Glassworks.
1874 - Naemoor House built on the family's Naemoor Farm estate near Crook of Devon. The building was designed by Adam Frame, of Alloa.
1877 - Cambus Distillery becomes one of the founding companies of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL).
1882 - DCL acquires the Old Cambus Brewery and expands the distillery.
1910 - John James Moubray's wife pays for Moubray Village Hall to be built for the community at Powmill, which opened in June 1910.
1911 - JJ Moubray was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Kinross-shire in November 1911, a position he held until he died in October 1928.
He was succeeded in the post by Alexander Price Haig, a descendant of John Haig, of Lochrin Distillery.
1946 - The Moubray family were investors in the Alloa Coal Company until it's demise due to the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1946.
In that same year the family sold off Naemoor House and it's estate of over 750 acres. During the war the Moubray family had allowed the house to be used as a convalescent hospital, and after the sale it was turned into a private boarding school.
Naemoor School, later Lendrick Muir School was a residential school for children of above average intelligence. In 1988 the focus was changed to children with dyslexia, which continued up until it's closure in 1998.
The building has been owned and run by the Scripture Union since its closure as a school. They offer residential activity breaks for young people from this facility.
