Moore was born in Castleford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Mary Baker and Raymond Spencer Moore. His father was of Irish origin and became pit deputy and then under-manager of the Wheldale colliery in Castleford. He was an autodidact with an interest in music and literature. Determined that his sons would not work in the mines, he saw formal education as the route to their advancement.[2] Henry was the seventh of eight children in a family that often struggled with poverty. He attended