Henry Spencer Moore was born on the 30th of July 1898 in the small coalmining town of Castleford, Yorkshire. He was the seventh of the eight children of Raymond Spencer Moore, and his wife Mary Baker. His mother was an affectionate woman who inevitably played a central role in her youngest son's life. His father, a miner, was an intelligent man who read and studied widely. He was determined that all his children should be well educated, and that no son of his should work down the pit.
Henry Moore went to infant and elementary schools in his hometown, and then in 1910, like several of his b…