Moses was the youngest of three sons and a daughter of John Blake (1821-1869), an employee at Billing Bear Park, and Sarah(b. 1824). His father died at an early age and Sarah and her family moved to Embrook Lodge. She became a tailoress and took in a lodger. At the age of fourteen Moses was a brick labourer.
A successful man, by 1881 he was employed by the Royal Friendly Society as an insurance collector and later became a land surveyor administrating a considerable amount of property in the Wokingham district. He was one of the auditors of the First Wokingham & Bracknell No. 541 Starr-Bowkett Building Society and a director and trustee of the 2nd Wokingham & Bracknell 647th Starr Bowkett Building Society.
Married twice, he had a daughter, Amy Lila (b. 1886), by his first wife, Eliza Jane nee Butler (1856-1895) whom he married in 1878. His second wife, Alice nee Smith (d. 1934), whom he married in 1897, predeceased him by two months. The Blakes, in earlier years, resided in Wiltshire Road and, around 1925, moved to Westbury at 38, Sturges Road.
In addition to has civic duties, Moses was an active member of the Liberal Party; chairman of the Nations Union and of the Wokingham Total Abstinence Society.
A devout Christian he was a member of Wokingham Baptist Church from 1882 until his death. During this period he held the office of deacon for twenty-five years; treasurer for eleven years and lay preacher.
Moses died on the 26th of June 1934 after an illness of three weeks, and was laid to rest in the Free Church Burial Ground beside his second wife.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0142