Moore, Charles, 1815-1881

Charles Moore was born on June 8, 1815, in Ilminster, Somerset, England, son of John Moore (1768–1844), bookseller, and printer.

He was a geologist and author. He was educated at the commercial school in Ilminster and at the free grammar school in 1827. He then worked at his father’s bookselling business. About 1837 he joined Mr. Meyler, a bookseller in Abbey Churchyard, Bath, but following the death of his father in 1844, he returned to Ilminster to help his eldest sister run the family business. In 1853, Moore moved back to Bath and got married. The marriage enabled him to retire from business, live in Bath, and devote himself to geology. He was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society in 1854. He became active in the Unitarian community and was elected a councilor for Lyncombe and Widcombe in 1868 and an alderman in 1874. He discovered and excavated a series of large Jurassic reptiles (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and crocodiles). Despite his total lack of formal training, his knowledge of geology was said to equal or exceed that of professionals. His greatest contribution was the study of ‘mineral veins’ in the Carboniferous limestones of the Mendip hills. He washed and sieved these clay-infilled fissures to yield a rich harvest of early Mesozoic fossils. The Moore principle of searching fissure infillings, physically processing them, and searching residues has become a standard method worldwide for fossil recovery. He published more than sixty scientific papers.

In 1854, he married Eliza Maria Deare (1814–1894). He died on December 8, 1881, in Bath, England.