More about Charles Moore: Draper and Politician
In this week's Times Past column, historian Jonathan Smyth follows up on a previous subject from 2018 - Charles Moore, draper and politician...
The photograph may look vaguely familiar to those who remember my first column on ‘Charles Moore: Draper and Politician’, ‘in Times Past from October 2018. Recently, I have had the luck to receive what for me was a previously unseen account of the business-minded politician who hailed from Cavan, and I found the account worthy of a further column.
To recap, Moore, that is, the ‘Honourable’ Charles Moore, had famously been elected three-times Mayor of Sydney and that the city’s Moore Park was named after him. Charles was from a large family, born to James and Catherine Moore; he had eleven siblings and the family lived at Ballymacarne (Ballymackinroe), in the parish of Annagelliffe. Charles worked in a variety of drapery establishments, including for a time as an apprentice in his brother William’s shop in Cavan town and going on to become a buyer for a large commercial establishment in Dublin, and serving his time in the drapery trade, London. I would like to acknowledge Mr Philip Dent for the information.
More about Moore
The account which follows, will I hope, add a little further meat on the bones of the story of Moore’s life. When Charles Moore died on 4th July 1895, an old ‘acquaintance’ of his who knew him some 40 years, sat down and put pen to paper, producing a short biography of his friend which was published in the Napean Times, Perth, on July 20, 1895. Moore on his arrival in Sydney opened a small store on Pitt Street. Famously, it stocked Berlin wool at a much lower price than other competitors, a matter, said to have been of much astonishment to ‘the ladies.’ Berlin wool having made his name, Moore required a larger store which he opened in the same area.
Another, piece of luck was the discovery nearby of gold and with the opening of the goldmines, Moore began to import larger quantities of clothing ‘through his connection in the mother country’ to meet the sartorial needs of the prospectors. Next, he purchased an auction room from Charles Newton, Pitt Street, from where he held clothing and boot auctions, clearing thousands of pounds worth of goods, ‘sold under the hammer’ in just a few hours.
Sometime about 1857, Foss’s wholesale drugstore, next door to Moore’s auction house, went up in flames and threatened to destroy all around it. Everything in Foss’s was wiped out and Moore then living above the auction rooms heard the commotion, jumped from his bed and grabbed an axe with which to break open a side door into the Foss premises, for he had heard it said that barrels of naptha (crude oil) and other dangerous ‘inflammables’ were stored there. If these were to catch fire, then a large section of Pitt Street would have been demolished in the blast. The fire services arrived, but not one including the bystanders seemed eager to lend a hand to help Moore remove the barrels. Moore unselfishly and at great personal risk entered Foss’s and rolled out several of the heavy casks. Soon the others joined in, and their action saved Moore’s premises and prevented Foss’s from being blown up. As a reward for the firemen and helpers, Moore ordered them two gallons of brandy from Toogood’s Tavern down the street.
At one stage, Mr Foss arrived in his carriage, looked at the flames for a moment and then returned home. Later, Foss claimed ‘many thousands of pounds’ from the insurance companies, but Moore who had worked hard to save the street, only looked for £1,500, but had to fight tooth and nail because one of the insurance companies refused to pay out to him. Finally, a settlement was reached, and Moore received a much larger and deserved compensation.
Cavan church organ
In February 1881, Moore’s homecoming visit to Cavan town, which took place some years previous was recalled in the Cavan Weekly News who reported that he still had family in the Cavan area. Having become a successful businessman and politician in Australia, the kindly gentleman, during his visit, generously gifted the Church of Ireland in Cavan with an ‘excellent organ’ at a cost ‘upwards’ of £400. The account appeared in the newspaper on the occasion of his appointment as a member of the legislature council for the colony of New State Wales.
Not only had he a civic and business career, stated the paper, but Moore was also always welcoming of emigrants from his ‘native county’ arriving in Australia, and being a hospitable host, invited them to call upon him when they were able to do so. The Napean Times called him a trojan for work, of immense physique and a man of integrity in commercial life.
When he first settled in Springwood, it was a backwater without church, cemetery or a school. With characteristic enthusiasm, Moore bought a site in the centre of the village where he had a stone-walled school built. Soon afterwards, ‘aided’ by government and members of parliament, he obtained lands for public amenity use, for example, Sassafras Park, Lomatio Park, Recreation Grounds and the General Cemetery in Springwood.
Charles Moore was said to be kind and an example of his kindness was the way he treated the family nursemaid who raised him as a child in Cavan, on whom he bestowed a ‘comfortable annuity’ and when she moved to New South Wales, he continued to pay the allowance until her death at 107 years of age.
Family in Ireland
For readers interested in the genealogy of Charles Moore’s family, the family tree included a cousin, John Rogers of Belturbet, the father of William Rogers, Margaret Rogers and Sydney Rogers.
Moore was a giant amongst the Irish community who made Australia their home.
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