1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Moon, Sir Richard

MOON, SIR RICHARD, 1st Baronet (1814–1899), English railway administrator, was the son of a Liverpool merchant, and was born on the 23rd of September 1814. The history of his life is practically the history of the London & North-Western railway for the period in which he lived. When he first became a member of the board in 1847, the company had just come into existence by the amalgamation of the London & Birmingham, the Manchester & Birmingham, and the Grand Junction lines, and it was during his long connexion with it—first as director and then (from 1862 to 1891) as chairman—that its system was developed substantially into what it is now. The Chester & Holyhead, the Lancaster & Carlisle, and many smaller lines were gradually added to it, either by leasing or by complete absorption, and finally in 1877 an act was obtained consolidating all into one homogeneous whole. Throughout his career, Sir Richard Moon’s powers of organization and his genius for what may be called railway diplomacy were of the greatest advantage to the company, and to him it owed in very large measure its commanding position. An extremely hard worker himself, he expected equal diligence of his subordinates; but energy and capacity did not go unrewarded, for he made promotions, not by standing or seniority, but by merit. Sir Richard Moon, who was created a baronet in 1887, died at Coventry on the 17th of November 1899.