Richard Moore (7 March 1849 – 12 September 1936) was an independent conservative Member of Parliament in New Zealand and Mayor of Kaiapoi.[1]
Moore was born in London on 7 March 1849, the son of shoemaker John Moore and his wife Ann.[2] He left England with his family on the Steadfast in February 1851, which arrived in Lyttelton on 8 June of that year.[3] [4] The family settled in Kaiapoi. At 21, he set himself up as a coachbuilder and wheelwright. Later on, he added saddlery to his business. When he sold the business he bought a shareholding in the Kaiapoi Produce Company and later became its sole owner. He was a large shareholder in the Kaiapoi Woollen Company.
Moore chaired the school committee for 14 years. He was a member of the Kaiapoi Borough Council for eight years and was Mayor of Kaiapoi from 1884 to 1887.[5] He was chairman of the Waimakariri Harbour Board.
In the, he unsuccessfully contested the electorate against Edward Richardson.[6] He represented Kaiapoi from 1890[7] [8] to 1893, when he was defeated,[9] and from 1896 to 1899, when he was again defeated.
Moore was conjointly elected onto the Lyttelton Harbour Board by the boroughs of Kaiapoi and Rangiora in February 1905.[10] He was chairman of the harbour board from 7 May 1913[11] until 5 May 1915.[12]
He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 14 July 1914. He was twice re-appointed and served until 13 July 1935. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[13]
Moore died in 1936 at his home in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere,[14] and was buried at Kaiapoi Cemetery.
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