John Francis Moore (1816

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England- April 5, 1870,

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

) was a lumber merchant and politician. He was mayor of

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

in 1857. He was married twice, first to Jane Loughry, and secondly to Elizabeth Donnelly. Little is known of the life of John Francis Moore, who came to Hamilton about 1840. He and his brother Edward formed ''J. and F. Moore Lumber Merchants and Nursery'', located at Rebecca Street; south side of market square. The brothers also owned a planing and veneering mill on Wellington Street between King William and Rebecca streets, and constructed many houses on Cathcart Street. The business apparently lasted until 1865, when it ceased to appear in the

city directory A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. It may be arranged alphabetically or geographically or in other ways. Antedating telephone directories, they were i ...

. Moore was elected alderman to represent St. Lawrence's Ward and was chosen as Mayor in 1857 by the council. In this capacity, he proclaimed a day of 'humiliation and prayer' following the train accident known as the

Desjardins Canal disaster The Desjardins Canal disaster was a rail transport disaster which occurred near Hamilton, Ontario. The train wreck occurred at 6:15p.m. on when a train on the Great Western Railway crashed through a bridge over the Desjardins Canal, causing the t ...

on 12 March 1857. (March 12 - Desjardins Canal Bridge train disaster, Ontario, Canada: Ninety passengers boarded a train from Toronto, Ontario en route to Hamilton, Ontario. As the train approached its final destination, the bridge spanning the

Desjardins Canal The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins, was built to give Dundas, Ontario, easier access to Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes system of North America. Although a technological achievement and a short term commercial succes ...

collapsed as the train derailed. 70 passengers died from trauma or drowning and exposure after being thrown into Cootes Paradise.) During his tenure he was the first mayor to adopt a system of borrowing money by

debenture In corporate finance, a debenture is a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money, at a fixed rate of interest. The legal term "debenture" originally referred to a document that either creates a debt or acknowle ...

s. His first venture was $20,000 for a complete system of sewerage. He also inaugurated the planning for the waterworks that were subsequently opened in 1860, by Prince Edward. He left the city to live in Montreal where he died in 1870. His remains were returned to Hamilton for burial and the City Council attended the funeral in a body.

References

* Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791–1875); Thomas Melville Bailey; W.L. Griffin Ltd, (1981); p. 156 Mayors of Hamilton, Ontario 1816 births 1870 deaths People from Wiltshire {{Ontario-mayor-stub