MOORE, THOMAS, the name of several sea captains active in the Hudson Bay area between 1674 and the early 18th century.

A Thomas Moore was employed by the HBC from 1671 to 1678. Originally a sailor, Moore was promoted to trader, and, while accompanying Charles Bayly* on his 1674 exploratory voyage from Rupert River to Cape Henrietta Maria, he probably prepared a rough draft of the west coast of James Bay – the only map which locates Albany Fort on Bayly Island. Moore returned to England and sought employment again in 1680, but he was not re-engaged.

This may well be the same man as the Thomas Moore who, six years later (1686), was hired by the Compagnie du Nord. A son of Edward Moore, master gunner at Dover Fort, England, and Cécile (Cecilia?) Richardson, Thomas (born c. 1654) abjured his Anglican faith at Quebec, 19 March 1690 (n.s.). The same year he married Jeanne Lemelin; the marriage contract is dated 7 Jan. 1690, but the ceremony was not performed until 6 April. The couple took up residence in the village of Saint-Laurent on the Île d’Orléans. They had six children, the last born in 1709.

Thomas Moore probably conducted ships to Hudson Bay either as a master or as a pilot for Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville in 1688–89. In 1706 he was commander of the Maria, and pilot of a privateer in 1707. Later the same year (1707) he was engaged by Guillaume Gaillard “to go privateering aboard La-Nostre-Dame-de-Victoire against the enemies of the state, in the vicinity of Cape Breton, Newfoundland, the Grand Banks, and elsewhere.” In 1713 he was master pilot on a ship sailing to Labrador. Moore must have died some time between 1713 and 1724; the marriage certificate of his son, Pierre, dated 1724, states that the father was dead.

In 1687 a third Thomas Moore was mate of the Hudson’s Bay Company ship the Huband (Capt. Richard Smithsend*) on the voyage to Hudson Bay. The Huband remained in the bay until captured by Iberville in 1689; it is not known whether Moore died, deserted, or was captured. Unless there is some error in the records this Thomas Moore cannot be identified as the one who was hired by the Compagnie du Nord.

G. E. Thorman