Henry Moore (governor)

Sir Henry Moore, Baronet (1713-1769) was a British colonial leader who served as royal Governor of New York from 1765 to 1769.

Related Topics:
1713 - 1769 - British - New York - 1765

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He was born in Jamaica to a prominent plantation family, and was educated toward the law.

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Moore was active in Jamaica's colonial affairs, and by 1756 he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Governor.

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As in many royal colonies of the time, the governor was frequently absent, collecting his fees and salary from London, with a local Lieutenant and council forming the actual government.

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Moore gained considerable reputation for leadership by suppressing a slave revolt during his first year on office.

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His reward was first to be made a Baronet, and then in 1764 he was named royal governor for New York.

Related Topics:
Baronet - 1764

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He arrived in New York City with his family in November 1765.

Related Topics:
New York City - 1765

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Relations between the colonies and England were very strained by this time, but not yet in open rebellion.

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New York City had seen riots and protests over the Stamp Act.

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The new governor calmed these by meeting directly with Isaac Sears, a leader of the Sons of Liberty.

Related Topics:
Isaac Sears - Sons of Liberty

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Moore agreed with Sears and the colony's assembly to suppress the Stamp Act, and gained additional goodwill be reducing the military fortifications within the city.

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His openness and courtesy earned him floral tributes while other colonial governors were being burned in effigy.

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However, during the next few years, he actively used military force to suppress rural riots by tenants of the large estate owners.

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He ordered General Thomas Gage to actively pursue and suppress this form of rebellion.

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This did not seem to bring him any increased difficulty in governing, for two reasons.

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The first was that the Sons of Liberty also feared the introduction of rural problems into the city, believing that they should be the only ones to use riots as a bargaining tactic.

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The second was that the Assembly at the time was dominated by the Patroons, or large estate owners.

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In December of 1767 Moore even dissolved the Assembly to allow the Patrons to make up through new elections some of the numbers they had lost earlier.

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He died suddenly while in office at New York City, on September 11, 1769.

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The duties of governor then fell on Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Colden whose term was much less peaceful.

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Moore left with the respect of almost all the colony's leadership, the only exception being certain religious fundamentalists angered by his efforts to create a theater or playhouse.

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Henry married Catherine Maria Long of another prominent Jamaica family in 1765.

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The couple had several children, and after his death, she moved to England.

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Catherines Peak (altitude 1158 meters) in Jamaica is named after her, as local legend reports her to be the first woman to climb the peak.

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