Edward Moor (1771–1848) was a British soldier and

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

, known for his book ''

The Hindu Pantheon ''The Hindu Pantheon'' was a book written by Edward Moor, an early European scholar of Indian religion. It was published in London in 1810. ''The Hindu Pantheon'' was illustrated with examples from Moor's own collection of Hindu artifacts, which a ...

'', an early treatment in English of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

as a religion.

Biography

He was a soldier for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, joining in 1782 as a

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

. He became a brevet-captain in 1796, having been wounded in 1791 at Dooridroog, a hill fort near

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, and Gadjnoor (not Doridroog and Gadjmoor, as stated in the ''Dictionary of National Biography''). He was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1806. He married Elizabeth Lynn on 10 July 1794. She died on 13 December 1835 and was buried in the churchyard at Great Bealings on 19 December 1835. He retired to Bealings House,

Great Bealings Great Bealings is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has about 302 people living in it in around 113 households. Its nearest towns are Ipswich ( away) and Woodbridge (). Nearby villages include Little Bealings, Playford, Culpho, Hasket ...

, Suffolk in 1806. His son, Canon Edward James Moor (1800–1866) was Rector of Great Bealings from 1844 to 1886. He died in at the house of his son-in-law, William Page Wood, in Westminster on 26 February 1848 and was buried in the churchyard at Great Bealings on 4 March 1848.

Bealings Bells

While Major Moor lived in Great Bealings he experienced what he believed was a ghostly ringing of the servants' bells in the house. This began on 2 February 1834 and was alleged to have lasted fifty three days. He described his experiences in the book ''Bealings Bells'', published in 1841. The mysterious bell ringing was sensationalised by paranormal writers as evidence for

poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

activity. However, the case was critically examined by

Trevor H. Hall Trevor Henry Hall (1910–1991) was a British author, surveyor, and sceptic of paranormal phenomena. Hall made controversial claims regarding early members of the Society for Psychical Research. His books caused a heated controversy within the para ...

who concluded that Moor was not a reliable witness and had been duped by one of his servants playing a practical joke. Other writers have suggested that Moor was responsible for the bell ringing and the entire case was a

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

. Author Daniel Cohen wrote that there was "more than a suspicion" that Moor had played a joke on everyone and his book "may have been conceived as a gentle satire on investigations of other odd phenomena." Cohen, Daniel. (1972). ''In Search of Ghosts''. Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 54

Publications

*''

'' (1810) *''Hindu Infanticide'' (1811) *''Suffolk Words and Phrases'' (1823) *''Oriental Fragments'' (1834) *''Bealings Bells'' (1841)

References

External links

*
Moor the Collector
from

Outlook India ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. The pu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moor, Edward 1771 births 1848 deaths British Indologists Fellows of the Royal Society British East India Company Army officers Paranormal hoaxes