Sampson Moore (1812–1877) was an English engineer and inventor based in

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 ...

, England during the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. His company, Sampson Moore & Co. produced a number of notable inventions.

Overview

Moore (1812–1877) was an engineer based in

. His company, Sampson Moore & Co. specialised in casting large iron structures and owned North Foundry in Gt Howard Street Liverpool. Sampson Moore & Co. supplied mortars for the Royal Navy and goods were shipped overseas on the 105 ft wooden steamship, the SS James Dennistoun. In 1876 Sampson Moore designed and supplied the first ever electric

overhead crane An overhead crane, commonly called a bridge crane, is a type of crane found in industrial environments. An overhead crane consists of two parallel rails seated on longitudinal I-beams attached to opposite steel columns by means of brackets. ...

, which was used to hoist guns at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

in Woolwich, London. Specifically he patented the improved winch mechanism that allowed the lifting of heavier weights (such as naval guns) by an electric motor. Electric

s were subsequently installed in several

foundries A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

in the north of England and were considered one of many technical advancements of the British

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The invention was celebrated in the Opening Scene of the London 2012 Olympics, where an electric

lifted cast

Olympic rings The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used throughout ...

out of a staged foundry in the Pandemonium scene. Other notable inventions included a machine for rolling tobacco and machines for rolling and polishing rice.

Violin Collection

Moore was also well known as a collector of violins. Several of Moore's instruments were included in the "Special Exhibition" of musical instruments in London in 1872. These included violins by Landolfi made in 1776 and a Richard Duke violin from 1756. The exhibition was chaired by Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, who was himself a keen violinist and subsequently Sampson Moore supplied Prince Alfred with several instruments. In 1874 he located two violins which had belonged years earlier to the Prince's late uncle the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

, for which Alfred was particularly appreciative.

Personal life

Sampson Moore married Elizabeth Grindle (b. 1806) on 20 Jun 1833 at the church of St Peter in Liverpool. They had one daughter, Elizabeth Moore (b. 1834) and one son, Stanley Moore, who was living in Tasmania at the time of his father's death.The Mercury Newspaper, Hobart, Tasmania, Volume XXX Number 5125, 19 March 1877
/ref>

References

External links

1820-1880, Age of the Engineer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Sampson 1812 births 1877 deaths 19th-century British engineers English electrical engineers English inventors