Moore was born in Napier, New Zealand in 1876. His family moved to Australia in 1887 when his father became a bank manager in Melbourne. The younger Moore arrived in Queensland in 1898, where he was a dairy farmer on the Darling Downs and the owner of two cheese factories. He followed what was to be the standard National Party road to office for many years – a career in local government, becoming member of Rosalie Shire Council in 1905 and its chairman from 1911-1929 and the president of the Queensland Local Authorities Association.