Francis Moore

Francis Moore (baptized 1708, died in or after 1756) was a British travel writer of the 18th century. Moore was born in Worcester, England, but few details are known about his early life. He came into prominence after publishing Travels into the Inland Parts of Africa in 1738. The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson attributed his commitment to the anti-slavery cause to reading the few experts on Africa of the time, including Moore. Account of Africa Moore was appointed a writer (i.e., clerk) by the Royal African Company in 1730 and sailed for the company's Gambia River entrepôt on July of that year. He left the region in April 1735 after also serving as a factor (agent) for the company. Moore was one of the first Englishmen to travel into the interior of Africa, serving in and visiting numerous towns and trading posts along the Gambia River from its mouth to the Guinea Highlands, hundreds of miles inland.