View source for Newton Moore

{{Short description|Australian army officer and politician (1870–1936)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix   = [[Major general (Australia)|Major General]]
|name               = Sir Newton Moore
|honorific-suffix   = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|KCMG|VD}}
|image              = Newton Moore (1870-1936).jpeg
|imagesize          = 175px
|caption            =
|order1             = 8th
|office1            = Premier of Western Australia
|monarch1           = [[Edward VII]]<br/>[[George V]]
|governor1          = [[Sir Frederick Bedford]]<br/>[[Sir Gerald Strickland]]
|term_start1        = 7 May 1906
|term_end1          = 16 September 1910
|predecessor1       = [[Cornthwaite Rason|Sir Cornthwaite Rason]]
|successor1         = [[Frank Wilson (politician)|Frank Wilson]]
|constituency1      = [[Electoral district of Bunbury|Bunbury]]
|constituency_MP2   = [[Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)|St George's, Hanover Square]]
|parliament2        = United Kingdom
|term_start2        = 4 October 1918
|term_end2          = 25 November 1918
|predecessor2       = [[Sir George Reid]]
|successor2         = [[Walter Hume Long]]
|constituency_MP3   = [[Islington North]]
|parliament3        = United Kingdom
|term_start3        = 14 December 1918
|term_end3          = 16 November 1923
|predecessor3       = [[George Touche|Sir George Touche]]
|successor3         = [[William Henry Cowan]]
|constituency_MP4   = [[Richmond (Surrey) (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond (Surrey)]]
|parliament4        = United Kingdom
|term_start4        = 29 October 1924
|term_end4          = 13 April 1932
|predecessor4       = [[Harry Thomas Alfred Becker]]
|successor4         = [[Sir William Ray]]
|birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1870|5|17}}
|birth_place        = [[Fremantle, Western Australia]]
|death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|1936|10|28|1870|5|17}}
|death_place        = [[London]], England
|nationality        = [[British subject]]
|party              = Unaligned (Western Australia)<br />[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (United Kingdom)
|spouse             = Isabella Lowrie
|occupation         = 
|profession         = [[Surveyor]]
|relations          = [[Rodney Moore (British Army officer)|Sir Rodney Moore]] (son)
|awards             = [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
<!-- Military service -->
|allegiance         = [[Colony of Western Australia]]<br />Australia
|branch             = [[Colonial forces of Australia#Western Australia|Western Australian Volunteers]]<br />[[Citizens Military Force]]
|serviceyears       = 1893–1918
|rank               = [[Major general (Australia)|Major General]]
|unit               = 
|commands           = AIF Depots in the United Kingdom (1915–17)<br />Intelligence Corps, [[5th Military District (Australia)|5th Military District]] (1908–14)<br />18th Australian Light Horse (1901–08)<br />Mounted Half Company, Bunbury Rifle Volunteers (1900–01)
|battles            = [[First World War]]
|mawards            = [[Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration]]
}}
[[Major general (Australia)|Major General]] '''Sir Newton James Moore''', {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|KCMG|VD}} (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth [[Premier of Western Australia]] from 1906 to 1910 and, following service in the [[First World War]], was a member of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] from 1918 to 1932. He was the father of [[Rodney Moore (British Army officer)|Sir Rodney Moore]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage |date=1916 |publisher=Kelly's Directories |page=952 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ujg4TVs_3RkC&q=Sir+Newton+James+Moore+Rodney&pg=RA1-PA952 |access-date=20 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
[[File:P1100044 Moore-NJ Capt-BVR 1900.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Captain Newton Moore, Bunbury Rifle Volunteers, 1900]]
Newton Moore was born in [[Fremantle]], [[Western Australia]], son of James Moore, auctioneer and later [[List of mayors of Bunbury|mayor]] of [[City of Bunbury|Bunbury]], and Elizabeth Dawson, schoolteacher. He was educated at Arthur Street Primary School in Bunbury before attending [[Prince Alfred College]] in [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]]. In 1886, he was apprenticed as a surveyor to [[Alexander Forrest]]. After qualifying in 1894, he worked as a contract surveyor in and around the Bunbury area. In April 1898 he married Isabella Lowrie, sister of [[William Lowrie]].

In 1899 Moore was elected to the Bunbury Municipal Council, and was Mayor of Bunbury from 1900 to 1904. In 1903 he was also a member of the [[Royal Commission]] on [[Forestry]], and during 1904 and 1905 he was President of the Municipal Association of Western Australia.

Moore was also involved in the Western Australian militia, commencing a long career as a private with the BRV (Bunbury Rifle Volunteers) in 1894. By 1900 he had risen to captain and was instrumental in assisting in the formation of the BRV Mounted Infantry Section, which was later incorporated into the [http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog/1879527/western-australian-mounted-infantry-1900/ WAMI (Western Australian Mounted Infantry)]. After the Commonwealth reorganisation of 1903, the unit was renamed the [http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog/1845844/18th-wami-australian-light-horse-regiment-1903/ 18th (WAMI) Australian Light Horse]. Moore served as acting commander until 1908, when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and officially appointed the commanding officer. In August 1908, Moore was appointed commanding officer of the 5th Military District Intelligence Section, where he remained until March 1914.

==State politics and premier==
In 1901, Moore contested the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] [[Electoral district of Bunbury|seat of Bunbury]], but was unsuccessful. In 1904 he contested the seat again and won. In August 1905, he was appointed Minister for Lands and Agriculture in [[Cornthwaite Rason]]'s government. On Rason's resignation on 7 May 1906, he became [[Premier of Western Australia]]. At 36 years old, he was at the time the youngest ever premier. He remains the most inexperienced politician ever to hold the office, having served in parliament for less than two years at the time of his appointment.

Moore's emphasis as Premier was on agricultural development. He personally retained the Lands and Agriculture portfolio, and pursued a policy of cheap land for settlers. His government laid the foundations of the [[Wheatbelt (Western Australia)|Wheatbelt]], and brought the state into line with the rest of Australia through an Income and Land tax, despite opposition from the conservative [[Western Australian Legislative Council|Legislative Council]].

In September 1907, after a dispute with the Legislative Council, Moore resigned as premier. However, Governor [[Frederick Bedford|Bedford]] would not accept his resignation, nor would he consent to an early dissolution, so Moore resumed office. In 1908, Moore led the Liberal Party to another election victory.  As the state had previously seen nine Premiers in a little over five years, this was a welcome respite from a period of great instability.  Moore was Minister for Justice from 14 May 1909 until 30 June 1909, when he relinquished both the Agriculture and Lands portfolio and the Justice portfolio, and took up the office of Colonial Treasurer. On 16 September 1910, Moore resigned as Premier and Colonial Treasurer on the grounds of ill health.

==Agent-General and First World War==
Moore was made a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in June 1908, and knighted as a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in June 1910. In February 1911, he resigned his Bunbury seat to take up the office of [[Agent-General for Western Australia]] in [[London]], a position he held until 1914. In this capacity Moore approved the first boys to migrate to and reside at the [[Fairbridge, Western Australia|Fairbridge Farm School]] in [[Pinjarra, Western Australia|Pinjarra]]. 

In 1915, during [[World War I]], while still Agent-General, the [[Australian government]] appointed him General Officer Commanding Australian Imperial Forces in the United Kingdom. He held that position until 1917, during which time he was promoted to the rank of major general. In November 1915 he was promoted to temporary colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29350|page=10878|date=2 November 1915|supp=y}}</ref>

==British politics==
[[File:Newton Moore 1932.jpg|thumb|right|Moore in 1932]]
In 1918, Moore resigned as Agent-General after being invited by the Conservative Party to stand for the British House of Commons seat of [[Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)|St George's, Hanover Square]], which had been made vacant by the death of former [[Prime Minister of Australia]] Sir [[George Reid]]. He was elected to the seat on 4 October 1918. In the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 general election]] on 14 December he instead stood for and won the seat of [[Islington North]]. After a break from politics in 1923 and 1924, he won the seat of [[Richmond upon Thames (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond (Surrey)]] in the general election of 29 October 1924, and held it until his resignation on 13 April 1932. For ten years, he was Chairman of the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Commons. He established himself as an excellent representative of Australia, and his opinion on Empire matters was highly valued by British ministers.

After retiring from politics, Moore became President of the [[British Empire Steel Corporation]], a company with interests in Western Australia and [[Canada]]. He was also a director of several important companies. He died on 28 October 1936 at a nursing home in London, following surgery.

[[Newton Moore Senior High School]] in Bunbury is named after him.

==See also==
* [[1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Black and Bolton 2001}}
*{{cite book|author=[[Gordon Reid (Governor)|Reid, Gordon Stanley]] and Oliver, Margaret Ruth|year=1982|title=The Premiers of Western Australia 1890–1982|location=Nedlands, Western Australia | publisher=University of Western Australia Press|isbn=0-85564-214-9}}
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Newton|Last=Moore|shortlink=0-dict-biogMa-Mo.html#moore2}}
*{{cite book|author=The Constitution Centre of Western Australia|year=2002|title=Governors and Premiers of Western Australia|url=http://www.ccentre.wa.gov.au/html/prems_govenors/first.html|location=West Perth, Western Australia | publisher=The Constitution Centre of Western Australia|isbn=0-7307-3821-3}}
* Grant, James Ritchie, ''Officers of the Western Australian defence force, 1861-1901'', Perth 1988.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110811081532/http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/ Australian Light Horse Studies Centre] [http://alh-research.tripod.com/militia.htm#wami Western Australian Mounted Infantry 1900–1920]

==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs | major-general-hon-sir-newton-moore | Newton Moore }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Premier of Western Australia]] | before=[[Cornthwaite Rason]] | after=[[Frank Wilson (politician)|Frank Wilson]] | years=1906–1910}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Westminster St George's (UK Parliament constituency)|St George's, Hanover Square]]
  | years  = [[1918 St George's, Hanover Square by-election|October 1918]]–[[1918 United Kingdom general election|December 1918]]
  | before = [[Sir George Reid]]
  | after  = [[Walter Long, 1st Viscount Long|Walter Long]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Islington North]]
  | years  = [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918]]–[[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]]
  | before = [[George Touche|Sir George Touche]]
  | after  = [[Henry Cowan]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Richmond (Surrey) (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond (Surrey)]]
  | years  = [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]–1932
  | before = [[Harry Becker (politician)|Harry Becker]]
  | after  = [[Sir William Ray]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{WesternAustraliaPremiers}}
{{Australian Generals of World War I}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Newton James}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Agents-General for Western Australia]]
[[Category:Mayors of Bunbury, Western Australia]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:People from Fremantle]]
[[Category:Premiers of Western Australia]]
[[Category:People educated at Prince Alfred College]]
[[Category:Australian generals]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1918–1922]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–1923]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1929–1931]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935]]
[[Category:Treasurers of Western Australia]]
[[Category:City of Bunbury councillors]]