Charles Moore

Charles Moore (10 May 1820 – 30 April 1905) was an Australian botanist and director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Early life Charles Moore was born Charles Moir in Dundee, Scotland on 10 May 1820. His parents were Charles, a gardener, and Helen Moir (née Rattray). The couple had 9 children, 7 of whom survived infancy. Moore had one sister and 5 brothers. The family changed their name to Moore in 1830, which was also sometimes spelt Muir. From age 12, Moore trained as a gardener in the Botanic Gardens of Trinity College, Dublin from 1832, having joined his brother David in Ireland after the death of their mother. He won a number of prizes while there, including the first premium in the Horticultural Society of Ireland's annual examination of journeymen gardeners in 1835. He joined his brother in the Ordnance Survey as an assistant botanist in May 1837, and was appointed botanist of the Survey after his brother left in post in 1838, working in County Donegal. He was awarded a Templeton prize for a display of native plants at the Botanic Gardens, Belfast in 1838. He left his position at the Survey and moved to England, working in Regent's Park and from 1847 as a gardener in Kew. Career in Australia In 1847 he was appointed a government botanist and director of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia by Earl Grey. He arrived in Sydney on 14 January 1848 and took up the position of Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, a position he held until 5 May 1896. In this time he undertook several trips in eastern New South Wales as a plant and seed collector.