Sir John Moore Knt Lord Mayor of London mezzotint by James Macardell

Sir John Moore (11 June 1620 – 2 June 1702) was a British politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

from 15 May 1685 to 9 January 1687, and Lord Mayor of London from 1681–82. He also invested in the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

Biography

Statue of Sir John Moore at Sir John Moore School

He was born in Snarestone Lodge near

Snarestone Snarestone is a small rural village in North West Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) :

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, on 11 June 1620, the son of Charles Moore Esq., a local landowner and owner of Appleby Hall,

Appleby Magna Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It includes the small hamlets of Appleby Parva and Little Wigston. Location The parish has a total collective po ...

, and Cecily Yates. Snarestone Lodge was the Lodge house to his mother's family estate: Snarestone Hall (now Demolished) His elder brother, also called Charles, was expected to inherit the family estates. So as the second son, John Moore was expected to make his own way in the world. He, and subsequent generations of younger sons, went to London to make a living as merchants. John Moore was active in the

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

business, then in trade with East India, and became Master of the

Grocer's Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compani ...

. Originally he was a non-conformist, but after entering the Church of England he was able to take a seat as alderman for

Walbrook Walbrook is a Ward of the City of London and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a River Walbrook, river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the ...

. He was knighted in 1672, and elected Sheriff of London that same year. He was a representative of the Court party in the reign of Charles II, and active in supporting its influence in the City of London. He was elected as one of the representatives from the city to the 1685 Parliament.

Links to the slave trade

Moore was a Member of Court of Assistants (essentially the board of directors) of the slave-trading

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...

, 1687–9 and 1700–1702, and was an investor in the Guinea trade. He was a shareholder in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, which was involved in the

Indian Ocean slave trade The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade, involved the capture and transportation of predominately sub-Saharan African slaves along the coasts, such as the Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa, and through ...

Legacy

He died aged 81, on 2 June 1702, leaving his estates, worth £80,000 (£6,247,200 today), to his two nephews. Moore contributed large sums to the erection of schools at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, and founded a free grammar school in

. Politically, he was a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

and, upon becoming Lord Mayor, was celebrated in song as the man who would keep the commoners in their place: A statue of Moore by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

was erected at Christ's Hospital in London, but was moved in 1902 to Christ's Hospitals School, Horsham, Sussex.

References

External links

"The Moores of Appleby Parva"
Richard Dunmore, Appleby Magna's History, applebymagna.org
"Sir John Moore Foundation"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, John 1620 births 1702 deaths People from North West Leicestershire District Businesspeople from London 17th-century lord mayors of London Sheriffs of the City of London 17th-century English knights English philanthropists 18th-century English people Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London English MPs 1685–1687 17th-century philanthropists 17th-century English slave traders