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SirHenry Monck-Mason MooreGCMG KStJ
Moore in 1942
1st Governor-General of Ceylon
In office 4 February 1948 – 6 July 1949
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	D. S. Senanayake
Preceded by	Post created; Himself as governor
Succeeded by	The Viscount Soulbury
29th Governor of British Ceylon
In office 19 September 1944 – 4 February 1948
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	Andrew Caldecott
Succeeded by	Post abolished; Himself as governor-general
20th Governor of Kenya
In office 9 January 1940 – 25 October 1944
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	Walter Harragin
Succeeded by	Philip Mitchell
In office 27 September 1930 – 13 February 1931
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	The Lord Altrincham
Succeeded by	Joseph Byrne
Governor of Sierra Leone
In office 17 July 1934 – 21 May 1937
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	Arnold Hodson
Succeeded by	Douglas James Jardine
Personal details
Born	(1887-03-18)18 March 1887 London, England
Died	26 March 1964(1964-03-26) (aged 77) Cape Town, South Africa
Spouse	Daphne Ione Viola ​(m. 1921)​
Children	2

Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore GCMG KStJ (18 March 1887 – 26 March 1964) was a British colonial administrator of British Sierra Leone, Kenya and Ceylon.

Biography

The son of Rev. Edward William Moore, he was educated at Rokeby, KCS, Wimbledon and Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating in 1909. In World War I, he was a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery based in Salonika from 1916 to 1919.

He served as Governor of Sierra Leone from 1934 to 1937. As governor of Sierra Leone he undertook surveys of infrastructure. He undertook a campaign that began by successfully "repairing every road and bridge in the area around Port Loko." It was considered one of the most ambitious and successful such efforts in colonial Africa during the era of the Great Depression. Adding to this, he then began a similar campaign in the Pejehun area, Bonthe and the surrounding area as well as Bo and the surrounding villages. This succeeded in providing employment for large numbers of native workers, as well as increasing commercial infrastructure for later development. However, when the area surrounding Magburaka asked for the same improvements, Governor Moore was unable to get the funds from the colonial office. This led to some sections alleging that the coastal areas were being "favoured" by the British government. Governor Moore found this dynamic "most distressing." While it was true that the funds simply had run out, and that Moore's efforts were genuinely made in good faith, the perception of favoritism became one which Moore had to consciously combat from then on. Albert Margai later wrote that he remembered Moore "fondly," and that "he had a reputation for being sincerely compassionate towards us." Milton Margai said Moore was "unhypocritical" and was "never patronising," adding "Moore did not have the sort of superiority complex or condescension that some others from Europe have had." Milton Margai said later, "Monk-Mason Moore was one of the men who gave the British Empire a good name in the eyes of many Africans. It is unfortunate there were not more like him." Siaka Stevens said Moore "was a good man." And that "he (Moore) genuinely meant well, and in most cases he did measurably good things." In 1937 Moore joined the Colonial Department in London as Assistant Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1939 and Deputy Under Secretary of State from 1939 to 1940.

From 1940 to 1944, he was Governor of Kenya and then from 1944 to 1948 he was Governor of Ceylon. After the independence of Ceylon in 1948, he served as Governor-General until 1950.

He married Daphne Ione Viola, daughter of William John Benson in December 1921. The couple had two daughters. He was the brother of the psychoanalyst Sylvia Payne.

Awards and honours

• Awarded a BA degree in Cambridge University, 1909
• Companion of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG), 1931
• Knight Commander of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG), 1935
• Knight Grand Cross of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG), 1943
• Knights of Justice (KStJ) of the Venerable Order of Saint John

References

1. "Biographical Notes" in Selections from the Smuts Papers: Volume VII, August 1945 – October 1950, Jean van der Poel, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2007) p423
2. Poel, Jean van der (5 April 2007). Selections from the Smuts Papers: Volume VII, August 1945-October 1950. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-03370-1.
3. Hall, Henry Usher. The Sherbro of Sierra Leone: A Preliminary Report on the Work of the University Museum's Expedition to West Africa, 1937. United States: University Press, University of Pennsylvania, 1938.
4. Sierra Leone in Maps, foreword by Sir Albert Margai by John Innes Clarke
5. Sir Milton Margai. United Kingdom: n.p., 1961.
6. Kpundeh, Sahr John. Elites, Non-elites and Corruption: An Attitudinal Analysis of Data from Sierra Leone. United States: Howard University, 1993.
7. Ofcansky, Thomas Paul (3 January 2008). "Moore, Sir Henry Monck-Mason (1887–1964), colonial governor". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38475. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

• Hankinson, C. F. J. (ed.) Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 1954, Odhams Press, 1954

v t e Governors-General of Ceylon
	Moore Viscount Soulbury Goonetilleke Gopallawa

• Governors of British Ceylon
• 1887 births
• 1964 deaths
• People educated at King's College School, London
• Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge
• Governors-general of Ceylon
• Royal Garrison Artillery officers
• Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
• British Army personnel of World War I
• Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya
• British Kenya people
• Military personnel from London