Thomas Bather Moore (1850 1919) was a pioneer explorer of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

South West 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 ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia.

Biography

He was born at

New Norfolk New Norfolk is a town on the Derwent River (Tasmania), River Derwent, in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2011, 2011 census, New Norfolk had a population of 5,543. Situated north-west of Hobart on the Lyell Hi ...

and died at Queenstown. He was buried at the graveyard Strahan overlooking

Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the ...

. He was appointed as a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He had been a prospector, track cutter, botanist, geographer and geologist – all mainly in

West Coast, Tasmania The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the mor ...

area. His tracks were legendary routes through parts of the South West Wilderness, as well as the

West Coast Range The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The range has had a significant number ...

. He had been considered one of the most experienced of

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

's track cutters. '' Western Tasmania: A land of Riches and Beauty'', was dedicated to his memory. In part of the dedication

Charles Whitham Charles Whitham was the author of the oft-reprinted ''Western Tasmania: A land of Riches and Beauty'', which was a comprehensive study of the geographical features of West Coast, Tasmania and the conditions of the region in the 1920s. Early lif ...

states:

Naming of Tasmanian landscape

He named many features including Mount Strahan, the Thureau Hills and the Tofft River which runs between those hills and Mount Huxley.For a letter by Thomas Bather Moore regarding the naming of the features along the south west coastline see – Whitham says in his book ''T.B. Moore'' that Moore "laid it down that all western lakes must have feminine names", which Whitham guessed would be ignored by bureaucrats in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Hydro Tasmania Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...

has since created lakes which have names that do not follow Moore's suggestion. ;Author abbreviation

Notes

References

* * * Whitham, Charles. ''Western Tasmania: A Land of Riches and Beauty.'' * *

External links

* http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/archives/P001263a.htm – correspondence between Moore and

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

History of Tasmania Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Western Tasmania Explorers of Tasmania 1850 births 1919 deaths South West Tasmania {{Explorer-stub