AustLit

Henry Moss was the son of Jacob Moses, an emancipated convict, and his wife Mary (nee Connolly). In 1848, Moss was gaoled for seven years for subornation of perjury, following an incident involving a fire at a stable adjoining his father's hotel at Yass. Upon obtaining a ticket-of-leave in 1851, Moss then settled in the Shoalhaven region, where he took up prospecting and established a hotel. By the 1860s Moss had become a leading citizen, and 1861 was elected mayor of the Shoalhaven municipality. In 1872 he was elected as the first mayor of Nowra Municipal Council. Over the years Moss's poems appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Illawarra Mercury.

Moss was the half-brother of Jack Moses (q.v.).