4 June 1613 he was installed prebendary of Winchester on the death of Dr. George Ryves (Hyde and Gale, Hist. and Antiq. of Winchester Cathedral). Here he was frequently involved in controversies with Bishop Neile on account of certain ceremonies which he had introduced into the cathedral. He is said to have been adorned in his youth with variety of learning, and in his later life to have been celebrated as an eloquent preacher and learned divine. He died 20 Feb. 1639-1640, and was buried in the chancel of West Meon Church.
He published a poem of great length written in Latin hexameters, intended as a universal chronology, and entitled: 'Diarium Historico-poeticum, in quo praeter Constellationum utriusque Hemisphserii, et Zodiaci Ortus et Occasus . . . declarantur cuj usque Mensis Dies fere singuli ... sic ut nihil paene desiderari possit, ad perfectam rerum gestarum Chronologiam . . . , Oxonii,' 1595, 4to.
[Wood's Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, ii. 654 ; Fasti Oxon. ed. Bliss, i. 254, 267, 357-8 ; Reg. Univ. Oxon. pt. ii. p. 165.]
MOOR, THOMAS de la (fl. 1327–1347), alleged chronicler. [See More.]
MOORCROFT, WILLIAM (1765?–1825), veterinary surgeon and traveller in Central Asia, a native of Lancashire, was educated at Liverpool for the medical profession. While he was a pupil under Dr. Lyon at the Liverpool Infirmary, the attention of the local medical authorities was directed to the outbreak of a serious epidemic among cattle in the district (presumably the Derbyshire cattle-plague of 1783). It was agreed to depute a student to investigate the disease. The choice fell on Moorcroft, who carried out his task in conjunction with a Mr. Wilson, described by him as 'the ablest farmer of his time.' Encouraged by a reported remark of the anatomist John Hunter, that but for his age he would address himself to the study of animal pathology the next day (Moorcroft, Travels, vol. i. Preface), Moorcroft spent some years in France studying veterinary science. He afterwards settled in London, at first in partnership with Mr. Field, and for some years had a very lucrative veterinary practice. In Kelly's 'Directory' for 1800 his name appears at 224 Oxford Street. He seems to have realised an ample fortune; but he lost largely over patents which he took out in 1796 and in 1800 (Patents No. 2104, 16 April 1796, No. 2398, 3 May 1800) for the manufacture of horseshoes by machinery (Fleming, Horse Shoes, p. 516). He therefore readily accepted the offer in 1808 of an appointment as veterinary surgeon to the Bengal army and superintendent of the East India Company's stud at Piisa, near Cawnpore. He advocated the improvement of the native cavalry horse by the introduction of English or Turcoman bone and muscle.
His preference for the Turcoman over the Arab horse appears to have directed his attention to the possibilities of commercial intercourse between British India and the countries behind the Himalaya. In 1811-1812, accompanied by Captain (afterwards General Sir John) Hearsey, he crossed the Himalaya by the Niti Pass and made his way to the great plain between it and the Kuen-Lun chain ; he examined the sources and upper courses of the Sutlej and the eastern branch of the Indus, and found the positions of Lakes Ravan and Manaforavara. He was the first British traveller to cross the Himalaya. An account of his journey appeared in 'Asiatic Researches,' xii. (1816) 375-534. Seven years afterwards, in the latter part of 1819, Moorcroft again set out on an exploring expedition, taking much merchandise with him. He visited Runjeet Singh at Lahore, and thence made his way into Ladakh and resided some time at the capital, Lé. When asked what the British desired, Moorcroft replied: 1. Liberty to trade with Ladakh. 2. Moderate duties. 3. A permanent footing in Ladakh. 4. The good offices of the government with that of Gordakh to induce the latter to open the Niti Ghat to British commerce. He had previously made proposals to Runjeet Singh at Lahore for increased facilities of commercial intercourse. The important political arrangements which Moorcroft proposed to the independent states adjoining British India were wholly unauthorised by the government. Disapproving his long sojourn at L<3, the Bengal government suspended his pay and allowances during absence. Moorcroft spared no effort to obtain permission to enter Chinese Tartary, but in this he was unsuccessful. From Lé he proceeded to Cashmere, entering that city on 3 Nov. 1822. His zealous inquiries into the management of the shawl-wool goat and the various processes of the Cashmere shawl manufacture, together with the specimens he sent home, are allowed to have contributed much to the improvement of the shawl industry at home. He finally quitted Cashmere by the Pir Punjab mountains, descending into the Punjab by a route new to Europeans, and proceeding by way of Attock and Peshawur to Cabul, on the line of route previously pursued by the embassy under Mountstuart Elphinstone [q. v.] He
