As a small child, he lost sight in one eye from scarlet fever, and by the age of twenty-one he had become totally blind.

Moon realised that the boys found these reading codes difficult to learn.

He devised a new system, Moon type, based on a simplified Latin alphabet, which he designed to be easier to learn.

Moon achieved several distinctions during his lifetime: he was elected to fellowships of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts in 1852 and 1857 respectively; he was also awarded an honorary LLD degree by the University of Philadelphia in 1871.

[2] Moon was twice married, in 1843 to Mary Ann Caudle, daughter of a Brighton surgeon, who died in 1864; and in 1866 to Anna Maria Elsdale, a granddaughter of William Leeves, the composer of 'Auld Robin Gray'.