Sir Richard Moon, 1st Baronet (1814–1899) was a railway engineer. He became chairman in June 1861 of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

until he retired on 22 February 1891. Born in Liverpool, the elder son of merchant Richard Moon (1783-1842) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Bradley Frodsham, of Liverpool, Moon became a member of the board of the London and North Western Railway in 1847, the company having just come into existence as the result of the amalgamation of several lines. First becoming a director, he was appointed chairman in June 1861. As chair, Richard Moon, being concerned with costs, concentrated locomotive construction at Crewe, and Carriage construction at Wolverton, thus enhancing the prosperity of each site. Sir Richard also founded the

Snowdon Mountain Railway The Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR; cy, Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa) is a narrow gauge rack and pinion mountain railway in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a tourist railway that travels for from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon, the highest pea ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, in association with George Assheton-Smith, which opened in 1896. He lived in Bevere, a small hamlet on the banks of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

, in

Claines Claines is a small village just to the north of Worcester, England, Worcester, England, on the east bank of the River Severn. Claines is situated in the heart of Worcestershire on the A449 between Worcester and Kidderminster. It has a church which ...

parish, Worcestershire, from 1849 to 1863. At the parish vestry meeting on 24 April 1851 he was elected as

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

. After moving to Copsewood Grange, east of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, he invested in

Joseph Cash Cash's, or J. & J. Cash Ltd., is a company in Coventry, England, founded in 1846, that manufactures woven name tapes and other woven products and is known for formerly making Ribbon#Cloth ribbon, ribbons. Foundation The company was founded b ...

's attempts to manufacture artificial

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

. Moon married Eleanor (1820-1891), daughter of John Brocklebank, of Hazelholm, Whitehaven,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, a former officer of the West Cumberland Volunteers, in 1840; they had three sons and two daughters. Moon was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Copsewood Grange, in the parish Stoke, in the

County of Warwick Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon and ...

, in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom, on 22 July 1887. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his grandson, Cecil Ernest Moon (son of Sir Richard's eldest son, Edward, who died in 1893). He is buried at St. Bartholomew's Church, Coventry. Richard Moon Street in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

is named after him.

References

Sources

* 1814 births 1899 deaths British chairpersons of corporations London and North Western Railway people Businesspeople from Liverpool Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 19th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-1810s-stub