[1] Moore was initially educated at the Whitchurch grammar school, Shropshire but by age 11 he appears on the books of HMS Lion for her voyage to the West Indies in 1729.

Moore spent a year aboard Diamond, before transferring to HMS Princess Amelia under Captain Edward Reddish.

He was deployed to HMS Edinburgh for several months, which was at this time serving in the English Channel as the flagship of his relative, now Vice-Admiral Charles Stewart.

Lancaster at this time was part of the fleet under Rear-Admiral Nicholas Haddock, patrolling off Cádiz and making forays into the Mediterranean.

[1] Haddock returned to England because of ill health in 1742, leaving the fleet under the temporary command of Richard Lestock.

They stopped off at Madagascar, and on departing, Diamond and Medway were briefly detached to cruise the Strait of Malacca.

Here they captured two French ships, one a rich merchant from Manila, and the other the large privateer Favorette, out of Pondicherry.

He also wrote 'I have sent this express by Captain Moore of the Devonshire … It would be doing great injustice to merit not to say that he signalized himself greatly in the action'[2] During the period of peace that followed the end of the War of the Austrian Succession Moore was appointed to command the yacht HMY William & Mary, followed by a return to the Devonshire in April 1756.

The resulting attack lasted from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, and succeeded in silencing the defences, and starting serious fires throughout the French positions.

Troops were then landed and drove the French into the hills, where they maintained their resistance, secretly supplied with provisions by the Dutch.

He consequently shifted his position to Prince Rupert's Bay in Dominica to be able to outflank any attempt by this enemy fleet to relieve Guadeloupe.

His last public duty was to join his old commander Edward Hawke in signing a protest against the holding of a court-martial against Admiral Augustus Keppel in December 1778.