Cirrus@Austlit

Henry Byron Moore had hoped to be an engraver but at fourteen he became a field-clerk and draftsman in the Survey Department at Geelong. In 1861 he was appointed district surveyor; later he worked for the Lands Department. In 1866 he was land commissioner in Gippsland and in 1870 assistant surveyor-general. After several reversals in business life he founded the Melbourne Electric Light Company in 1880 and established the Melbourne Telephone Exchange Company. Moore also became secretary of the Victoria Racing Club, a position he held until 1925, taking responsibility for the extension and beautification of the Flemington race course.

Moore was also active in charitable work, donating money from his writing of fairy stories to the Melbourne Children's Hospital. The last surviving member of the 'literary coterie that formed the Yorick Club', he died at his home in Collins Street, Melbourne.