Life

The son of Henry Moore, minister of Treville Street presbyterian congregation, Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, he was born at Plymouth on 30 March 1732. His mother was the daughter of William Bellew, of Stockleigh Court, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. His schoolmaster was John Bedford, later vicar of St. Charles the Martyr, Plymouth. In 1749 he entered Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...

's dissenting academy, then at Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, and, after Doddridge's death moved on 9 November 1752 to the Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley...

 under Caleb Ashworth

Caleb Ashworth

-Life:Ashworth was born at Clough-Fold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular Baptists; he had three sons—Thomas, Particular Baptist minister at Heckmondwike; Caleb; and John, General Baptist...

. Here he was a fellow-student with Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...

.

In 1755 or 1756 he became minister of a small Presbyterian congregation at Dulverton

Dulverton

Dulverton is a town and civil parish in the heart of West Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town has a population of 1,630. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north west of Dulverton...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, but moved in 1757 to the Presbyterian congregation at Modbury

Modbury

Modbury is a town and parish in the South Hams region of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the A379 road, which links it to Plymouth and Kingsbridge...

, Devon. He was at this time an Arian

Arian

Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...

. It was not until 6 July 1768 that he was ordained at Plymouth. His congregation at Modbury went over to Methodism

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

. Around the end of 1787 he moved to the Presbyterian congregation at Liskeard

Liskeard

Liskeard is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Liskeard is situated approximately 20 miles west of Plymouth, west of the River Tamar and the border with Devon, and 12 miles east of Bodmin...

, Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

.

He seems to have retired from active duty before 1792, when Thomas Morgan, one of the founders of the Western Unitarian Society, is described as minister at Liskeard. Shortly before his death he became paralysed, when an edition of his poems by subscription was projected by John Aikin

John Aikin

John Aikin was an English doctor and writer.-Life:He was born at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England, son of Dr. John Aikin, Unitarian divine, and received his elementary education at the Nonconformist academy at Warrington, where his father was a tutor. He studied medicine at the...

, but it was not published until some years after his death. He died unmarried at Liskeard on 2 November 1802.

Works

He wrote much devotional verse. Priestley, who thought highly of Moore as an exegete, secured him as a contributor to the Commentaries and Essays, 1785–99, 2 vols., of the Society for Promoting the Knowledge of the Scriptures

Society for Promoting the Knowledge of the Scriptures

The Society for Promoting the Knowledge of the Scriptures was a group founded in 1783 in London, with a definite but rather constrained plan for Biblical interpretation. While in practical terms it was mainly concerned with promoting Unitarian views, it was broadly based.-Founders:The founding...

; the second volume is largely occupied with Moore's interpretations of passages in the Old Testament, commended by Alexander Geddes

Alexander Geddes

Alexander Geddes was a Scottish theologian and scholar.He was born at Ruthven, Banffshire, of Roman Catholic parentage, and educated for the priesthood at the local seminary of Scalan, and at Paris; he became a priest in his native county.His translation of the Satires of Horace made him known as...

. In 1789 Priestley then applied to Moore, through Michael Dodson

Michael Dodson

-Life:The only son of Joseph Dodson, dissenting minister at Marlborough, Wiltshire, he was born there in September 1732. He was educated at Marlborough grammar school, and then, in accordance with the advice of Sir Michael Foster, justice of the king's bench, was entered at the Middle Temple 31...

, to take part in a projected version of the Bible.

He published:

• ‘An Essay on Fundamentals,’ &c., 1759, (allows just two: that Christ is a king, and that his kingdom is not of this world).
• ‘A Word to Mr. Madan,’ &c., 1781, (anon.); two editions same year: in reply to the Thelyphthora of Martin Madan
  Martin Madan
  Martin Madan was an English barrister, clergyman and writer, known for controversial views on marriage expressed in his book Thelyphthora.-Life:...
  
  .
• ‘Private Life: A Moral Rhapsody,’ &c., Plymouth, 1795.

Posthumous was:

• ‘Lyrical and Miscellaneous Poems,’ &c., 1803, 1806, (edited by Aikin).

One of his pieces is in Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne

Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne PC , was a British lawyer and politician. He served twice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...

's hymnal, the Book of Praise, 1863; others are in older Unitarian collections. A hymn, ‘Amidst a world of hopes and fears,’ which appears with the initials ‘H. M.,’ has been ascribed to him, but is by Hannah Merivale.