George Moore (9 April 1806 – 21 November 1876) was an English lace merchant and philanthropist. He was born in Mealsgate, Cumberland. Moore accumulated great wealth and built a mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens. He then moved to Mealsgate. Life He was the son of John Moore and Peggy Lowes. He was born at Mealsgate, Cumberland, on 9 April 1806. His ancestors were 'statesmen,' who for more than three centuries had lived upon their own land at Overgates. After receiving some education at village schools, Moore, at thirteen, determined to begin life for himself. It was against family precedent, but at last his father agreed that the boy should be bound apprentice to a draper at Wigton, Cumberland, and the self-reliance which would not allow him to remain a labourer in the country ultimately drove him to London, where he arrived in 1825. His first success was won upon the day after his arrival, when he came off victorious in some wrestling at Chelsea. It was less easy to succeed in business. Work of any kind was for a time sought in vain, and it was to the clannish goodwill of a Cumberland man that he at last owed a modest place with Flint, Ray, & Co., drapers. He made little progress, but, with characteristic resolution, determined to marry Ray's daughter. In 1826, he entered the service of Fisher, Stroud, & Robinson, then deemed the first lace-house in the city, with whom he wore down prejudice by steady industry. The turning-point in Moore's life came when in 1827, he was made town traveller. He prospered at once. At twenty-one he was sent to the north, and worked with such extraordinary success as to be called 'The Napoleon of Watling Street.' At twenty-three, a rival firm of lacemen, which began in a small room over a trunk shop in Cheapside, and became one of the largest in London, offered Moore a partnership, and the firm became Groucock, Copestake, & Moore. By his own capacity and toil Moore contributed much to its success, and in 1840, after suffering one refusal, he was able to marry Eliza Flint Ray. In 1841, Moore gave up the active life of a traveller. City work at once told upon him. He tried hunting; and in 1844 went to America for three months. Philanthropy In the retirement occasioned by ill-health his religious opinions became pronounced, and on