Beecher Moore
Beecher Moore (16 September 1908 – 10 November 1996) was a highly influential figure in the development of dinghy sailing in the United Kingdom after the Second World War. He worked for many years with Jack Holt who designed numerous dinghies, and together they did much to make sailing a pastime accessible to the masses. In addition to his interest in sailing Moore had a reputation as something of a larger than life character and successfully pursued a range of other activities including for many years being part-owner of the restaurant Parkes, in Beauchamp Place, London.
Beecher Moore
- Name
- Beecher Moore
- Birth Name
- William Beecher Moore
- Born
- 16 September 1908
- Birthplace
- Rochester, New York, United States
- Died
- 10 November 1996
- Place of death
- London, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- Businessman and restaurateur
- Nationality
- United States
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Beecher Moore (16 September 1908 – 10 November 1996) was a highly influential figure in the development of dinghy sailing in the United Kingdom after the Second World War. He worked for many years with Jack Holt who designed numerous dinghies, and together they did much to make sailing a pastime accessible to the masses. In addition to his interest in sailing Moore had a reputation as something of a larger than life character and successfully pursued a range of other activities including for many years being part-owner of the restaurant Parkes, in Beauchamp Place, London.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Beecher Moore (1908–1996) was an architect and engineer, of American nationality. The architect was born in Rochester and died in London.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Beecher Moore. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q4879642 · wikipedia · Beecher Moore
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Beecher Moore • Birth Name — William Beecher Moore • Born — 16 September 1908 • Birthplace — Rochester, New York, United States • Died — 10 November 1996 • Place of death — London, United Kingdom • Occupation — Businessman and restaurateur
Early years
Early years
Moore was born in Rochester, New York, US but moved to Britain with his parents while very young. In the 1920s he went to Harvard University but did not complete his degree and instead returned to England to work with his father in his business stationery company, Moore's Modern Methods, which he inherited and ran on his father's death. During World War II he served as ARP Warden for the Temple, London and had a lease on a flat in a building full of legal chambers where he remained resident for many years.
Relationships
Relationships
He was married three times, firstly in 1934 to Elizabeth Wynkoop and secondly in 1954 to Barbara (Bobbie) Seale and Naona Van Zile in 1972. Bobbie's father was theologian Morris S. Seale, her sister was Thea Porter the fashion designer and her brother was writer and journalist Patrick Seale. Beecher and Bobbie had one son, Chadwick. She died in 1971. Moore married Naona Van Zile, ex-wife of Rev. Sidney Lanier the following year. He died on 10 November 1996 at his flat at the Middle Temple and his funeral was held in Temple Church in the Inner Temple. His ashes are held in the Colombarium of the church with those of his wife Naona.
Sailing
Sailing
Moore's interest and involvement in sailing increased during the 1930s and he became a member of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch. Around this time he was involved in the development of what became acknowledged as the first trapeze used in a sailing dinghy - in the form of a bell rope on a Thames A Class Rater. Moore was an exceptionally talented sailor and over the years won many sailing competitions either solo, as part of a crew or with regular sailing partner Jack Holt. His successes included; the 14-ft Merlin Championships on five occasions in the 1940s, the National Hornet World Championship three times and the 12-ft National Championship once. In 1934 Moore was part of the crew of Endeavour l in the America's Cup when he was the only American to sail aboard the British challenger. He was also heavily involved the administration of sailing at both national and international level. He was senior vice-president of the International 470 class, Chairman of the International Tempest Association and the Mirror 16-ft Association and a vice-president of the Amateur Yacht Research Society.
Business partnership with Jack Holt
Business partnership with Jack Holt
Moore joined forces with Thames boatbuilder Jack Holt after the war. The two both worked and sailed together. Holt was a talented boatbuilder, sailor and designer. Together they were instrumental in the development and launching of many dinghy classes including the International 14, Merlin Rocket Hornet, GP 14, Enterprise and Mirror. Holt designed the boats and built the prototypes whilst Moore looked after the marketing and development of each class. The company they formed continues to operate to this day under the name of Holt.
Interests
Interests
Moore was a keen patron and collector of art and literature and accumulated a large collection of illustrated and written erotica. In 1964, during the puritanical scare period around the Profumo affair, he made a significant donation to the Private Case collection in the British Library. In the early 1990s he sold another collection of erotic writing and drawings many of which were the work of his friend, the illustrator Tom Poulton. These were collectively published by Taschen in 2006.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that no. Making girls into women: American women's writing and the rise of lesbian identity / Kathryn R. Institutional cataloguing adds that a letter addressed to the Rev. Doctor Beech, on his and the Rev. Richard Moor's illiberal treatment of the author.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Rochester.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Cook, Peter. Obituary: Beecher Moore. The Independent. 15 November 1996.
- 2.Moore, Beecher. Obituary: Jack Holt. The Independent. 16 November 1995.
- 3.Garrison, John (ed), Harvard College: Class of 1931 Second Report (Cambridge: Cosmo Press Inc, 1938)
- 4.British Industries Fair Catalogue 1947 http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Moores_Modern_Methods
- 5.Moore, John C, Moores's Modern Methods Catalog No. 1 (Rochester NY: Moore, John C 1915)
- 6.Naona Beecher-Moore. www.telegraph.co.uk.
- 7.Meynell, Julia. Obituary:John Winter. The Independent. 6 July 2002.
- 8.Endeavour's Crew Selected. The Times. 18 July 1934.
- 9.'1934 America's Cup', http://royalcorinthian.co.uk/endeavour-championship/1934-americas-cup/
- 10.Bruce, Errol (ed), Who's Who in Yachting (London: Nautical Publishing Company, 1969, SBN 245595708)
- 11.History of the Fourteens Part 4 - The Years of Challenge 1956 -65, (2009), http://gbr.international14.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7:history-of-the-fourteens-part-4-the-years-of-challenge&catid=6:history&Itemid=9 Jack Holt is among many designers
- 12.Merlin Rocket: A Brief History, http://www.merlinrocket.co.uk/library/history/class_history.htm
- 13.Designed by Jack Holt and Barry Bucknell
- 14.Originally the News Chronicle Enterprise. The first dinghy sponsored by a national paper
- 15.Holt website, http://www.holt.eu
- 16.Kearney, Patrick J, "The Private Case: an annotated bibliography of the Private Case Erotica Collection in the British (Museum) Library", London: J. Landesman, 1981,
- 17.Joseph W. Slade, "Pornography and sexual representation: a reference guide", Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, , p.16
- 18.Maclean, Jamie, The Secret Art of an English Gentleman: Tom Poulton (Cologne: Taschen, 2006, )
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Design
11,558 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Beatrix FarrandDesigner
- Beatriz ColominaDesigner
- Beatriz del Cueto LopezDesigner
- Beatriz PeschardDesigner
- Behruz ÇiniciDesigner
- Béla GersterDesigner
- Béla LajtaDesigner
- Ben Hamilton-BaillieDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Beecher Moore?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.