Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moore, George (1803-1880)
MOORE, GEORGE (1803–1880), physician and author, was born 11 March 1803 at Plymouth, where his father was dispenser at the infirmary. After attending Abernethy's lectures and surgical practice at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, he studied anatomy in Paris in company with Erasmus Wilson [q. v.], and attended Dupuytren's practice. In 1829 he became M.R.C.S. England, in 1830 L.S.A., in 1841 M.D. St. Andrews, in 1843 ext. L.R.C.P., and in 1859 M.R.C.P. He settled first at Camberwell, near London, where he practised successfully for eight years. In March 1835 he obtained the Fothergillian gold medal for his essay on 'Puerperal Fever,' which was favourably reviewed in the 'British and Foreign Medical Review' (ii. 481). In 1838 his health broke down, and he removed to Hastings, where he remained for ten years. During part of this time he was physician to the Hastings Dispensary, with his friend Dr. James Mackness [q. v.] as a colleague. In 1845 he published most popular of his books, 'The Power of the Soul over the Body,' which reached a sixth edition in 1868. In 1848 his health obliged him to seek comparative retirement at Tunbridge Wells, but he returned in 1857 to Hastings. Here he passed the rest of his life, engaged in literary work, and, till within a few years of his death, in medical practice. He died there 30 Oct. 1880. He was married three times (his first wife having died very shortly after marriage), and by his second wife, who died in 1850, he had several children, who survived him. He was a man of very high moral and religious character, and of considerable learning. In 1840 he published a work on 'Infant Baptism Reconsidered,' being a baptist by conviction, but in his latter years he attended congregational or church of England services.
His principal work was 'The Lost Tribes and the Saxons of the East and of the West, with New Views of Buddhism, and Translations of Rock-Records in India,' with fourteen illustrations, 8vo, London, 1861, in which he endeavours to demonstrate the connection of the Buddhists with the Israelites, and of both with the Sacæ (or Sakai), and of the Sacæ with the Saxons.
Some of his other works are:
- 'The Use of the Body in relation to the Mind,' 1846; 3rd edition, 1852.
- 'Man and his Mo- tives,' 1848; 3rd edition, 1852.
- 'Health, Disease, and Remedy,' 1850.
- 'Ancient Pillar Stones of Scotland,' 1865.
- 'The First Man and his Place in Creation,' 1866.
- 'The Training of Young Children on Christian and Natural Principles,' 1872.
He also published in 1826 'The Minstrel's Tale, and other Poems,' and in later life composed many hymns and short religious poems, some of which appeared in the 'Hastings and St. Leonards News.'
[Medical Directory; Hastings and St. Leonards News, 5 and 12 Nov. 1880; personal knowledge and recollection; information from the family.]