Henry Moore (1732–1802) was an English Unitarian minister and hymn-writer.

Life

The son of Henry Moore, minister of Treville Street presbyterian congregation,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, he was born at Plymouth on 30 March 1732. His mother was the daughter of William Bellew, of Stockleigh Court, Devon. His schoolmaster was John Bedford, later vicar of St. Charles the Martyr, Plymouth. In 1749 he entered Philip Doddridge's dissenting academy, then at

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, and, after Doddridge's death moved on 9 November 1752 to the

Daventry Academy Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, an ...

under

Caleb Ashworth Caleb Ashworth, D.D. (1722–1775) was an English dissenting tutor. Life Ashworth was born at Cloughfold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular ...

. Here he was a fellow-student with Joseph Priestley. In 1755 or 1756, he became minister of a small Presbyterian congregation at Dulverton, Somerset, but moved in 1757 to the Presbyterian congregation at Modbury, Devon. He was at this time an

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

. It was not until 6 July 1768 that he was ordained at Plymouth. His congregation at Modbury went over to Methodism. Around the end of 1787 he moved to the Presbyterian congregation at Liskeard, Cornwall. He seems to have retired from active duty before 1792, when Thomas Morgan, one of the founders of the Western Unitarian Society, is described as minister at Liskeard. Shortly before his death he became paralysed, when an edition of his poems by subscription was projected by

John Aikin John Aikin (15 January 1747 – 7 December 1822) was an English medical doctor and surgeon. Later in life he devoted himself wholly to biography and writing in periodicals. Life He was born at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England, son o ...

, but it was not published until some years after his death. He died unmarried at Liskeard on 2 November 1802.

Works

He wrote much devotional verse. Priestley, who thought highly of Moore as an exegete, secured him as a contributor to the ''Commentaries and Essays'', 1785–99, 2 vols., of the Society for Promoting the Knowledge of the Scriptures; the second volume is largely occupied with Moore's interpretations of passages in the Old Testament, commended by

Alexander Geddes Alexander Geddes (14 September 1737 – 26 February 1802) was a Scottish theologian and scholar. He translated a major part of the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible into English. Translations and commentaries Geddes was born at Rathven, B ...

. In 1789, Priestley then applied to Moore, through

Michael Dodson Michael Dodson (1732–1799) was an English lawyer and writer on religious subjects. Life The only son of Joseph Dodson, dissenting minister at Marlborough, Wiltshire, he was born there in September 1732. He was educated at Marlborough Grammar Sc ...

, to take part in a projected version of the Bible. He published: * ‘An Essay on Fundamentals,’ &c., 1759, (allows just two: that Christ is a king, and that his kingdom is not of this world). * ‘A Word to Mr. Madan,’ &c., 1781, (anon.); two editions same year: in reply to the ''Thelyphthora'' of Martin Madan. * ‘Private Life: A Moral Rhapsody,’ &c., Plymouth, 1795. Posthumous was: * ‘Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poems,’ &c., 1803, 1806, (edited by Aikin). One of his pieces is in

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne, (27 November 1812 – 4 May 1895) was an English lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Palmer was born at Mixbury in Oxfordshire, where ...

's hymnal, the ''Book of Praise'', 1863; others are in older Unitarian collections. A hymn, ‘Amidst a world of hopes and fears,’ which appears with the initials ‘H. M.,’ has been ascribed to him, but is by Hannah Merivale.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Henry 1732 births 1802 deaths English Unitarians English hymnwriters