Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born 08 June 1873 at Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland
Son of Joseph Henry MOORE and Elizbaeth Jane nee KING
Husband of the late Jane Josephine nee WATTERSON (d.1916)
Resided Fremantle, WA
Aged 44 years
Enlisted 23 November 1917
Returned to Australia 17 July 1919
Married 14 September 1921 to Margaret nee RILEY
Died 20 February 1964 at Subiaco, WA
Buried Fremantle Cemetery

Canon Robert Henry Moore was most famously known as the Anglican Dean of Perth between 1929 and 1947. Yet in the years of the Great War, he was the parish priest at Fremantle's St John's Church. Clergy were not shy in the war years of intervening in public debate regarding loyalty, service and patriotism. In many cases, their involvement had profound outcomes, as was most evident when Melbourne's Catholic Archbishop, Daniel Mannix, lobbied against the conscription referendum of 1917. Moore, however, as did many of the Anglican clergy, preached that the Great War was a just fight in the defence of Christian values. In the following year, at the height of a bitter conscription campaign, he became a military chaplain and served with the Third Light Horse Brigade in the Middle East.

"Robert Henry Moore (1872-1964), Anglican clergyman, was born on 8 June 1872 at Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland, son of Joseph Henry Moore, civil engineer, and his wife Elizabeth Jane, née King. Robert's grandfathers were Church of Ireland clergymen. He was educated at Drogheda Grammar School and at Trinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1894; M.A., 1911), where he went on to read theology. Made deacon on 14 June 1896 and ordained priest on 13 June 1897, he served at St Luke's Church, Belfast, in a densely populated parish.

In 1897 Moore responded to an appeal by Bishop Riley for additional clergy to minister to Western Australia's goldrush population. He reached Fremantle in the Oruba on 1 June 1898 and held appointments at Kanowna (1898-99), Mount Morgans (1899-1901), Boulder (1901-05) and Northam (1905-10). Although he retained his strong brogue, he adapted rapidly to his new surroundings and introduced liturgical practices characteristic of the Oxford Movement. He supported the idea of a goldfields diocese, and promoted the building of churches and the creation of larger parish structures. On ecclesiastical issues, he aligned himself with such clergymen as Bishop F. W. Goldsmith who pressed for greater autonomy for the Church of England in Australia. At the Chapel of the Cross, Bishop's House, Perth, on 8 May 1901 he had married Jane Josephine Watterson (d.1916).

Recognition of Moore's energy and leadership came in 1910 when he was appointed a canon of St George's Cathedral, Perth, and in 1911 when he was assigned as priest to St John's Church, Fremantle. Commissioned chaplain, Australian Imperial Force, on 23 November 1917, he served with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade in the Middle East in 1918-19; after he was discharged from the A.I.F. he returned to Fremantle..." - READ MORE LINK (adb.anu.edu.au)