The Moore Baronets

THE RT HON SIR WILLIAM MOORE WAS THE SECOND LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND

JAMES MOORE migrated from Cumberland in the reign of JAMES I and settled at Ballynacree More, parish of Ballymoney, County Antrim.

His grandson,

JAMES MOORE (c1650-c1727), of Ballynacree, a member of the Society of Friends, distrained for tithes each year, 1675-82, by the priest of Ballymoney, married Elizabeth ________, and had issue, a numerous family, including,

William, of Killead;
James, of Ballynacree;
George;
John;
JOSEPH, of whom presently.
Alice.

The third son,

JOSEPH MOORE (c1684-), of Rosnashane, County Antrim, wedded, in 1707, Susan Brady, of Grange, in same county, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
James, of Desertderrin, ancestor of MOORE of Moorefort;
John, ancestor of MOORE of Lischeihan;
Joseph, of Ahoghill;
Samson, of Moore Lodge;
George.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM MOORE (1708-), of Rosnashane, espoused Elizabeth Courtenay, of Glenburn, and (with three daughters), had two sons,

JOSEPH, his heir;
William, of Killagan.

The elder son,

JOSEPH MOORE (c1735-), of Rosnashane, Barrister, married Susan, daughter of Joseph Courtenay, of Glenburn, and had issue (with two daughters), three sons,

William, died young;
Thomas, Midshipman RN, drowned;
SAMSON, his successor.

The third, but only surviving son,

SAMSON MOORE, of Rosnashane, Captain, Finvoy Yeomanry, wedded, in 1787, Jane Ramadge, of Mullens, and had issue,

Thomas, died unmarried;
ALEXANDER, his heir;
William, military officer;
Joseph, died young;
Elizabeth; Jane; Martha; Alice.

Captain Moore died in 1832, and was succeeded by his second son,

DR ALEXANDER MOORE (c1795-1840), of Rosnashane (which property was sold at his death), married, in 1821, Mary, daughter of Rev B Mitchell, and great-granddaughter of James Moore, of Desertderrin, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
Samson, died unmarried;
Alexander, Colonel in the US Army;
George;
Thomas;
Courtenay (Rev), Rector of Mitchelstown and Canon of Cloyne;
Mary; Jane; Elizabeth.

Dr Moore died in 1840, and was succeeded by his eldest son,


DR WILLIAM MOORE JP (1826-1901), of Moore Lodge, County Antrim, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1890, President of the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, 1883-84, King's Professor of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Physician-in-Ordinary to the Queen in Ireland, 1885 espoused, in 1863, Sidney Blanche, daughter of Captain Abraham Fuller, of Woodfield, King's County, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
Alexander;
George Abraham (Dr);
Sydney William;
Roger Clotworthy.

The eldest son,

THE RT HON SIR WILLIAM MOORE (1864-1934), of Moore Lodge, married, in 1888, Helen Gertrude, fourth daughter of Joseph Wilson, of Clonmore, County Dublin (DL for Co Armagh), and had issue,

WILLIAM SAMSON, his successor;
Joseph Roger, b 1895;
Nina Mary Adelaide.

• MP for North Antrim, 1899-1906
• MP for North Armagh, 1906-17
• PPS to Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1902-04
• Puisne Judge, 1917
• Lord Justice of Appeal, 1921
• Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, 1925-37

 PRIVY COUNSELLORS (IRELAND)

The KING has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of His Majesty's Birthday, to declare that the following shall be sworn of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in Ireland:- The Hon William Moore KC, One of the Judges of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in Ireland.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 3 JUNE, 1932 

The KING has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of His Majesty's Birthday, to signify his intention of conferring Baronetcies of the United Kingdom on the following:- The Right Honourable William Moore LL.D, DL, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.

Sir William was the eldest son of Queen Victoria's honorary physician in Ireland, Dr William Moore of Rosnashane, Ballymoney. 

His family had come to Ulster during the Plantation, at which time they were Quakers, and settled at Ballymoney (the Moore Lodge estate was to be inherited from a relative).

In 1903, he was one of the first landowners in Ireland to sell off their estates under the Land Acts.

By the early 1920s, he owned a Belfast pied-à-terre called 'Glassnabreedon' at Whitehouse, north of Belfast, which was once owned by the son of Nicholas Grimshaw (1747-1805), Ireland's first cotton pioneer.

He was created a baronet in 1932, designated of Moore Lodge, County Antrim.

Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR WILLIAM SAMSON MOORE, 2nd Baronet (1891-1978), JP DL, of Moore Lodge, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1944, who wedded, in 1915, Ethel Cockburn Gordon, daughter of Walter Livingstone Wheeler, and had issue,

WILLIAM ROGER CLOTWORTHY, his successor;
Nina Pamela (1916-68).

Sir William was succeeded by his only son,

SIR WILLIAM ROGER CLOTWORTHY MOORE, 3rd Baronet (1927-2019), TD JP DL, of Moore Lodge, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1964, Major, North Irish Horse, 1950-63, who married, in 1954, Gillian (d 2016), daughter of John Brown, of County Antrim, and had issue,

RICHARD WILLIAM, of Huxham House, Shepton Mallet, Somerset;
Belinda Jane Eve, b 1956.

Sir William was succeeded by his only son,

SIR RICHARD WILLIAM MOORE, 4th Baronet (1955-), who wedded, in 1985, Karen Furness, and has issue,

Charlotte; Sophie; Fenella.

MOORE LODGE, near Ballymoney, County Antrim, is a beautifully positioned house, set high above the River Bann, surrounded by trees and lawns in a small, good quality parkland.

In 1876, the Moores owned 1,470 acres of land in County Antrim.

It was described in 1814 as ‘certainly one of the prettiest and most retired spots in this county’.

The original 17th century house was apparently burnt in 1729 and replaced post 1759 by the present Georgian building, which was improved in the 1840s and had an extension added in 1901.

There was a notable garden in the early part of the 20th century, which is now only remembered by an unpublished account written in 1951, The Gardens of Moore Lodge 1902-1939.

The pigeon house or dovecote in the grounds dates from before 1832.

Moore Lodge remained continuously with the Moore family since the early 18th century.

It was for sale in 2021.

First published in June, 2010.