The third son of George Moore and Elizabeth Jane née Cazaly, Walter Charles Moore was born in Fiji on 24 September 1875. His mother was the aunt of Roy Cazaly; making Moore Cazaly's cousin. His eldest sister, Edith, was married to Sir Francis Pratt Winter. Moore married Rose Alice Walters on 9 May 1898 at Fitzroy, Victoria; they had one child, George Clarence Leonard Moore, born in Collingwood on 8 November 1898. His father the Hon. George Moore, originally a soldier, worked as a government official in Fiji from 1872. In 1876 he was appointed as the first Government Surveyor; in 1880 was promoted to Staff Surveyor; and in 1899 he became the Commissioner of Lands, Works, and Water Supply, and the Crown Surveyor. He was awarded the Imperial Service Order for his service in 1903. At the time of Moore's death in South Africa, his father resided in Fiji, and his mother and sister lived at 46 St Vincent Place, Albert Park — the street surrounding the park in which a memorial to Charlie Moore would later be erected.
Footballer
Moore played for the Albert-park Football Club — and possibly the South Melbourne Football Club — in the Victorian Football Association before playing in the VFL. He made his debut for Essendon in the first season of the VFL, on 3 July 1897, against Collingwood at Victoria Park. Although short, Moore played at full-forward for Essendon. At a time when a team's best goal-kicker usually played at centre-half forward, he was their leading goal-kicker in 1898 with 20 goals. In just 15 games he came fifth in the competition's goal-kicking list. In three seasons he played a total of 30 senior games for Essendon, kicking 34 goals. In the 1898 VFL Grand Final, Moore played against Fitzroy'sStan Reid who would also die in the Boer War. Moore kicked one goal in Essendon's loss to Fitzroy:
Sportsman
In addition to his footballing skills, Moore was also an excellent swimmer, and a highly talented boxer. In the early days of his sojourn in South Africa, Moore showed off his sporting prowess by winning the Regiment boxing competition and being runner up in the swimming competition:
Soldier
According to a fellow trooper in South Africa, Moore was "university trained, gifted, and well fitted to lead men and gain respect from his comrades". Following the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, Moore enlisted in the Imperial Military Forces in the Fourth Victoria Imperial Bushmen's Contingent. The stated requirement for enlistment was that candidates must be capable horsemen, and have a certain amount of bush experience. According to, The Official Records of the Military Contingents to the War in South Africa noted that: At the time of his enlistment, Moore listed his occupation as "chainman", which indicated that his work was with surveying teams in the bush, and, in particular, that he was responsible for the application of the Gunter's chain. At the time, his height was measured at 5' 6¼", and his chest at. Corporal Moore left Australia for South Africa on 1 May 1900, with the Fourth Contingent, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly, According to a fellow trooper, soon after Moore arrived in South Africa, he was demoted to Private for getting "too big for his boots", and having "looked upon the wine when it was red" On 12 May 1901, he was part of a reconnaissance squad patrolling in the location of the Toorberg Mountain above the Doornbosch Farm when they came across and engaged a group of Boers. In the ensuing battle, Moore's horse was shot out from underneath him, and he took cover behind the body of the fallen horse. He was then seriously wounded when a Boer bullet hit him in the waist, having passed through the body of the dead horse. Moore eventually killed his Boer opponent after eight shots, and had struggled back to a ridge and was crawling along it on his hands and knees when his mates found him. They took the gravely wounded Moore to the nearby Kwaggashoek Farmhouse. He died of his wounds that night; a contemporary South Melbourne newspaper claimed that Moore "was the first man of the Imperial Contingent to die of gunshot wounds". He was originally buried near to where he died; his body was later exhumed and he is now buried in the Dutch Reformed Church cemetery, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Remembered
Charles Moore is commemorated on war memorials at:
Memorial Shrine with drinking fountain and a lamp, at Bank Street South Melbourne; a memorial to the 140 residents of the City of South Melbourne who served in the Boer War in various contingents.
