According to an article by 'El V' (Bulletin 5 May 1938), Moses's father 'came out from London in Macquarie's day to marry a merry Irish girl.' Jack Moses was a wine salesman who travelled widely throughout Australia. He was a prominent figure at agricultural shows, where he built a wide circle of friends and expressed a close affinity with the Australian bush. He became famous in country towns for his friendliness and willingness to recite his own verse. The best known of these, 'Nine Miles from Gundagai', appears in the first edition of the book by the same title (1938) as the first entry; and 'Nine Miles from Gundagai (after Fifty Years)' is included in the 'Songs' section. The song version has been popular in recordings of folk music and other verse songs have been put to music and published; for example, 'D-O-B-O' (Dubbo). 'Nine Miles from Gundagai' was honoured by the erection of a statue showing a dog on a teamster's tucker box on the road outside Gundagai. This has become a tourist attraction since its unveiling by Prime Minister Joe Lyons in 1932.
Moses was a regular contributor to the Bulletin, the Sydney Mail and Smith's Weekly. Miller and Macartney (1956) observe that Moses was 'an intimate friend of Henry Lawson' (q.v.). Lawson nicknamed Moses 'The Clot of Gold' because he liked to wear a Cloth of Gold rose in the lapel of his coat. Moses contributed a humorous reminiscent piece, 'The Clot of Gold', to Henry Lawson by His Mates (1931). Lawson's line 'My best friend was a Yid' in the poem 'Joseph's Dreams' was a reference to Moses. The Bulletin Book of Humorous Verses and Recitations (1920) was dedicated to 'That good Australian "Jacky" Moses, for many years a "Bulletin" reciter in the Bush'. In the last years of his life Moses lived in Sydney where he was known as a street character who distributed postcards of his poems.
Moses was the younger step-brother of Henry Moss (q.v.).
