William Harrison Moore

Moore pictured in his office in the Melbourne University Law School, circa 1916.

Sir William Harrison Moore KBE CMG (30 April 1867 – 1 July 1935), usually known as Harrison Moore or W. Harrison Moore, was an Australian lawyer and academic who was a professor at the University of Melbourne and the third dean of the Melbourne University Law School.

Early life and education

Moore was born in London, England in 1867, the son of printer John Moore and of Jane Dorothy Moore, née Smith. Moore left school at the age of 17, and worked as a journalist in the gallery at the British House of Commons. With the help of the Barstow law scholarship from the Council of Legal Education, Moore gained entry at King's College at the University of Cambridge in 1887, and was also admitted to the Middle Temple. In 1891 Moore graduated from Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and from the University of London with a Bachelor of Laws, winning both the George Long prize and the Chancellor's medal from King's College.

He was admitted to the English bar by the Middle Temple later that year. He read under Thomas Edward Scrutton (a future Judge of the Court of Appeal), and intended to practise in the area of commercial law, but his poor health forced him to move to Australia, seeking a better climate.

The Law School under Moore opened its doors to practising lawyers in addition to academics, visiting lecturers in the year of 1908 including people such as High Court Justice H. B. Higgins, Chief Justice of Victoria Sir John Madden, and judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria Leo Cussen. The School, located then in what is now known as the "Old Law" building, struggled for room and resources, Moore having to contribute some of his personal library for the use of students, and some lectures having to be held in the Supreme Court building in the city. which was both an examination of the Constitution of Australia and a history of the Federation movement itself.

Marriage

On 10 November 1898, Moore married Edith Eliza à Beckett, daughter of a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria – and former lecturer at the University of Melbourne – Thomas à Beckett. Edith was a passionate advocate of women's suffrage in Australia and helped to found the Queen Victoria Hospital in central Melbourne. in 1906.

From 1907 to 1910, Moore served as an official adviser on constitutional matters to the Government of Victoria, serving under Premiers Sir Thomas Bent and John Murray, and advised several conservative leaders in federal politics. From time to time, the Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson also consulted Moore on questions of constitutional law.

Death

Moore died in 1935 in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak, and was survived by his wife. They had no children.