James Moore (1826–1887) was an engineer responsible for the first steam-powered railway to operate in Australia.
Early life
James Moore was born in about 1827 in England, a nephew of Sir
William Cubitt
Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of ...
, under whom he was engaged on the
South Eastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
Great Northern Great Northern may refer to:
Transport
* One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation).
* Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway.
* Great ...
railways, and presumably learnt his trade there. In due course he qualified as a
Chartered Engineer
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...
. He moved to Australia in the early 1850s.
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company
In March 1854, Moore was appointed as Chief Engineer of the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
, which was set, six months later, to open the first steam-powered railway in Australia. It was reported that he was a man "of whose abilities rumour speaks favourably". He succeeded
William Snell Chauncy
William Snell Chauncy (11 August 1820 – 3 July 1878) was an English civil engineer responsible for a number of important engineering works including the first steam railway opened in Australia.
Early life and work
William Snell Chauncy was b ...
, who had resigned the engineership of the line under a cloud as the work on the railway pier had proven useless. Moore was responsible for completing the railway line between the city and Sandridge, and the main deep-water pier on
Hobson's Bay
The City of Hobsons Bay is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the south-western suburbs between 6 and 20 km from the Melbourne city centre.
It was founded on 22 June 1994 during the amalgamation of l ...
at
Sandridge
Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England.
History
The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants.
The earliest recorded mention of Sandrid ...
. He can also be credited with the first locomotive in the Australian colonies when he attached a pile driving steam engine to one of the heavy railway trucks, to assist in construction of the line.
At the opening of the line in September 1854, he was presented with an engraved watch with the inscription: "James Moore, Esq. Engineer of the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway by the Commissioners as a token of their esteem and in commemoration of his having opened the first Railway in the Australian Colonies Sept. 12th 1854".
[Windsor and Richmond Railway'' (in New South Wales) and then superintendent of works on the Southern extension of the New South Wales Great Southern Railway into the town of ]Goulburn
Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...
.
A James Moore is also credited with building the Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
Administration Offices in Spencer Street, Melbourne. However, although commissioned in 1886, building only started in 1888 and was not completed until 1893, so it is possible that this was a different James Moore.
He moved to Lismore in New South Wales in about 1870, where he managed a ''well-known sugar plantation in the Big Scrub'' but when he experienced some heavy losses he moved into Lismore and took up the position as Engineer for the Borough of Lismore in 1886, until ill health caused him to resign on 15 April 1886.
Death
Moore died in Lismore, New South Wales
Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It ...
in 1887 of diabetes aged 61, having been resident at the country property Jesswoolgan, near Alstonville, New South Wales
Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers. Alstonville is on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lismore (19 km to the w ...
for some time, and was referred to as ''for many years civil engineer of the Railway Department in Sydney.'' He was described as ''...one who was always kind and affable, and whose' hand was ever stretched forth to assist the needy or distressed. His funeral was held at the Lismore Church of England read by the Rev. A. Poole, and his remains were interred at the Wilson's Ridges Church of England Cemetery, Lismore.
References
Bibliography
* Cumming, D.A. ''Some Public Works Engineers in Victoria in the Nineteenth Century'' Technology Report No. TR-85/10. August 1985.
* Lee, Robert. ''The Railways of Victoria 1854–2004'' Melbourne University Publishing Ltd, .
* Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Public Relations and Betterment Board. p. 274.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, James
1826 births
1887 deaths
British civil engineers
Australian civil engineers
Engineers from Melbourne