Jane Moore

Jane Elizabeth Moore (30 September 1738 – 1796?) was an autobiographer and poet, notable for her detailed account of eighteenth-century business practices based on her experiences working as a clerk in her family's firm. Later in life she moved from England to Ireland, where she famously chastised the Freemasons of Dublin.

Life Moore was born in London to French parents. Her mother died when she was three and she was brought up by a great-grandmother and other relatives. She began work in her father's business in the leather trade in 1753; on October 10, 1761, she married Thomas Moore and subsequently worked in both his and her father's firms. The couple had two children, neither of whom survived infancy. Because of her position with her family's business, she was able to achieve "a measure of financial independence" and negotiated a dowry from her father in recognition of her work. However, her father reneged on the agreement and left her out of his will, resulting in a six-years long lawsuit. She moved to Ireland some time before 1795. In 1796 she wrote of her dissatisfaction at being "obligated to any man breathing".

Writing Moore published her autobiography in 1786. The subtitle is an apparent reference to Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. While the work covers a range of personal and cultural material, such as family matters and satiric descriptions of fellow visitors to Bath, the third volume is "a treatise on industry that ranges from improvements in agriculture and inland navigation to changes in coinage and debt law". Her life was not without conflict, and she indicated that she wrote about her difficulties in order to help others. suggested she was better suited to business, than to writing. The poetry collection, however, went into a second edition.

Works