John Bramley-Moore (1800 – 19 November 1886) was an English politician and chairman of Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. John Bramley-Moore Benson

Life

The youngest son of Thomas Moore, he was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, and assumed his additional name of Bramley in 1841. As a young man he went out to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to engage in commerce, and lived for several years at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, where in 1828 he entertained the officers of the exploring ships HMS ''Beagle'' and HMS ''Adventure''. Much of the wealth he acquired in Brazil was derived from slave-worked exports and illicit slave-trading. On his return to England in 1835 he settled at Liverpool as a merchant. In 1841 Bramley-Moore was elected by Liverpool town council as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, an office which he held for 24 years. Aldermanic Elections In 1841 he became a member of the dock committee (afterwards called the dock board), and in the following year was appointed chairman. He worked for the 1846 arrangement with the Earl of Derby, by which two miles of the foreshore of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

, from the borough boundary to

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

, became available for the construction of docks. After the opening of the

Albert Dock Albert Dock may refer to: *Albert Dock, Hull, in Kingston upon Hull, England *Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, a dock and warehouse system in Liverpool, England *Royal Albert Dock, London The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal ...

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

in 1846 he was offered a knighthood, which he declined. Five other docks were opened on 4 August 1848, one of them receiving the name of

Bramley-Moore Dock Bramley-Moore Dock is a semi-reclaimed land, reclaimed dock on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. The dock is located in the northern dock system in Liverpool's Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall area, and i ...

Bramley-Moore was elected

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The office of Lord Mayor of Liverpool has existed in one form or another since the foundation of Liverpool as a borough by the Royal Charter of King John in 1207, simply being referred to as the Mayor of Liverpool. The position is now a most ...

in November 1848, and during his year of office originated a fancy fair and bazaar by which money was raised for the local hospitals. In politics he was a Conservative, and was returned to Parliament in 1854 as Member for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

. He lost his seat in 1859, but then represented Lincoln from 1862 to 1865. He was an unsuccessful candidate for

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

in 1852, for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 1853, and Lymington in 1859. For many years Bramley-Moore was chairman of the Brazilian chamber of commerce in Liverpool, and lobbied the government to reduce the duties on coffee and sugar. In 1863 he made a speech in parliament on the subject of the relations of England with Brazil, for which he was decorated with the Order of the Rose by the Emperor

Pedro II of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...

. Some years before his retirement from business Bramley-Moore went to live at Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, where he built a free reading-room. He died at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 19 November 1886, aged 86, and was buried at St. Michael's-in-the-Hamlet, Toxteth Park, Liverpool.

Family

Moore married in 1830 Seraphina Hibernia, daughter of William Pennell, British consul-general for Brazil, and left two sons, the Rev. William Joseph Bramley-Moore, a clergyman of the Church of England, and author of theological works, and John Arthur Bramley-Moore (died 10 July 1899).

Notes

;Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramley-Moore, John 1800 births 1886 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Liverpool UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 Members of Parliament for Maldon 19th-century English businesspeople