Ramsey Bignall Moore

Epithet: MHK, MLC, attorney general, antiquarian and author (1880-1969)

Record type: Biographies

Biography: From ‘New Manx Worthies’ (2006):

Ramsey Bignall Moore was the son of James Moore who had come to Douglas from Ramsey to take a draper's shop in Victoria Street. 'RB' entered into articles with the advocate George A. Ring in 1897. His family lost their home and business after the Dumbell's Bank crash in 1900, and he had to work long hours to get them out of their problems. He was admitted to the Manx Bar in 1902 and went into partnership with Ring, who was also the Isle of Man's Attorney General, in 1904.

A small, neat man with a trim moustache, Moore lived at Brookdale on Cronkbourne Road in Douglas with his wife and two sons. He became Member of the House of Keys for North Douglas in 1919. In 1921 he succeeded Ring as Attorney General and vacated his seat on the Keys to serve on the Legislative Council. Moore was asked to assume the office of Acting Deemster on four occasions, in 1921, 1923,1956 and 1957. He also served as a Justice of the Peace. He was a member of several Boards of Tynwald. He was interested in education, particularly free secondary education.

Moore took up his appointment as Attorney General in 1921 on a salary of £1000 per annum, plus a war bonus. The work involved had increased to such an extent that Tynwald and the Home Office agreed that the previously part-time position should be full-time, with the appointee retiring at 65 on a pension.

As a Member of the Legislative Council, the Attorney General served with the two Deemsters, the Lord Bishop, two non-official members nominated by the Governor, and four members appointed by the House of Keys, with the Governor presiding but not voting. The majority of the members were therefore either Crown appointees or Governor's nominees.

At the time of Moore's appointment there was great discussion between the Island's government and the Home Office over who Moore should represent if there was a dispute between the two governments. Moore defended the Island during the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the British Parliament's Privy Council Committee Report of 1926 on the Island's 'Imperial Contribution'. The 'Imperial Contribution' was an amount of £10,000, paid annually by the Island to the United Kingdom since 1866, ostensibly for 'defence and common services'. But in fact the British Treasury imposed the contribution in order to get an equivalent to the customs revenue profits which they had taken from the Island since the Revestment Act (1765), and were about to lose through the Customs, Harbours and Public Purposes Act (1866). Throughout the early 1920s the UK Government sought to substantially increase the £10,000. Moore, a Crown appointee, set a precedent as Attorney General by arguing against the Crown. He fought in the interests of the Island, and he won. The Duke of Atholl, who chaired the committee, censured Moore in a private report to the Privy Council when he said:

"The case for the Island was urged almost entirely by the Attorney General. We understood that the Attorney General was an officer of the Crown and that it was therefore improper that he should appear before us to oppose the payment of a reasonable contribution to the Exchequer, but we did not raise this point as we thought that it would be impolitic to deprive the Island of one whom they considered to be their chief advocate, and, in addition, because we hoped that the presence of the Attorney General upon the Insular Committee might result in the presentation of their case in an unprejudiced and reasonable manner. We were, however, disappointed. At some of our conferences the demeanour of the Attorney General can only be described as one of studied discourtesy to my Committee, and I feel that I would have been justified on several occasions in requesting him to withdraw from the conference. In addition, either intentionally or otherwise, he misrepresented material facts to us on several occasions, and we formed a strong impression that he was pressing his advocacy of the Island far beyond the limits of forensic necessity."

Such matters illustrate the mutual uncertainty about the nature of the relationship between the two countries. It would appear that Moore might have sacrificed his future career as a Deemster, though his grandson, Martin Moore, recalls his grandfather telling him that he was offered the position of Second Deemster on more than one occasion, but that the Attorney General's salary was higher and he needed to pay for his sons' further education. Moore's firm stance in dealing with the Home Office and other departments of state would continue throughout his career.

In parts of his period of office he had to visit government departments in London approximately once a month, this in addition to his time in Tynwald and hearing the Island's major criminal cases. World War II brought a huge amount of additional work which exhausted him, but he remained in office until he reached 65.

Moore's many publications on the Island's legislation, history and arts are testimony to his intellect and patriotism. Amongst his works are Curiosities of Manx Law (1925), The Isle of Man and International Law (1926), Revised Index to the Statutes of the Isle of Man (1927 and 1945), List of Members of the Keys 1417-1933 (1933), The Constitutional Position of the Isle of Man (1944), Statutes of the Isle of Man 1933-7937 (1948) and 1938-1941 (1953), The Role of the Keys (1950), Scraps from the Early Statutes (1957), The Deemsters and the Manx Courts of Law (1962), The Ice Age in the Isle of Man (1935), Rivers Old and New (1949), The Story of Rosemount Methodist Church (1956), A Memoir of Archibald Knox (1959) and A Memoir of Kirk Andreas, Skyll Andreas (1959).

Ramsey Moore became a trustee of the Manx Museum in 1921, was appointed vice-chairman in 1927 and served as chairman at a time of great development from 1952-62. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1955 for his services to the museum. In later life he enthusiastically took tours around the museum. Marshall Cubbon, Manx Museum director 1957-84, recalls Moore 'covering subjects as diverse as the workings of the universe through to the modem history of the Isle of Man, all in a quarter of an hour!'

Moore had the vision to support the museum's innovative 1964 exhibition of works by Manxman Bryan Kneale, the international sculptor and artist. He was also editor of the Proceedings, committee member, president and life member of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society. He was connected with Rosemount Methodist Church in Douglas for 70 years, and was the superintendent of its Sunday School. Over the years he held many posts within Methodism in the Island. He was Chief Ruler of the Isle of Man Independent Order of Rechabites and a trustee of King William's College in Castletown. Other interests included playing football for Gymnasium, tennis, badminton and gardening.

Ramsey Moore's sons both became professional men in the Island: Deemster George Moore and Dr Gordon Moore.

At the end of his autobiography, Moore says: "I would like to say that I served my day and generation. That may seem like bragging, but I can say that I have done my best for the Island and its people. There is hardly a phase of Manx life that I have not touched, and if I could think that I have left the world a little better than I found it I would be content."

Biography written by Kit Gawne.

(With thanks to Culture Vannin as publishers of the book: Kelly, Dollin (general editor), ‘New Manx Worthies’, Manx Heritage Foundation/Culture Vannin, 2006, pp.323-5.)

Culture Vannin

#NMW

Gender: Male

Date of birth: 23 January 1880

Date of death: 2 July 1969

Name Variant: Moore, Ramsey B.

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