A. W. (Arthur William) Moore

Born on February 6, 1853, in Douglas on the Isle of Man, Arthur William Moore became one of the island’s most important historians and folklorists. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, and went on to build a public career as well as a literary one, later serving as Speaker of the House of Keys.

Writing as A. W. Moore, he devoted much of his work to recording Manx life in all its richness. He wrote on folklore, place names, history, language, and local biography, and is especially remembered for books such as The Folk-Lore of the Isle of Man and A History of the Isle of Man. His work played a major part in preserving traditions that might otherwise have been lost.

Moore died on November 12, 1909, at the age of 56. More than a century later, he is still valued as a careful collector of Manx memory and a key figure in the cultural history of the Isle of Man.