Sir Horace Edward Moss was a British theatre impresario and the founder chairman and joint managing director of the Moss Empires Ltd theatre combine which he created in 1899, and floated on the Stock Exchange, after first joining forces with Richard Thornton of Newcastle and later with Oswald Stoll then operating in Wales.
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From its start and during the 20th century Moss Empires remained the largest group of variety theatres in Britain, with over 50 venues at its height, and was regarded as the largest in the world.
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Edward Moss's father James Moss was a fiddler and character singer in singing saloons.
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Edward Moss bought a new site and opened his first Empire Palace Theatre in 1892, designed by Frank Matcham who designed many of the group's theatres, as did Bertie Crewe.
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Edward Moss was knighted in 1905 for his services to charity and entertainment, the first variety impresario to be honoured this way.
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King George V commanded a public Royal Variety Performance to be directed by Sir Edward Moss and held in the Edinburgh Empire in July 1911 as part of the Coronation celebrations that year.
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In 1905 the Edward Moss combine had 37 variety theatres of which the flagship was London Hippodrome.
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Edward Moss married twice: firstly to Ellen Alice Bramwell, with whom he had two sons: James Edward Moss, and Charles Sommerville Moss.
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Sir Edward was succeeded by Frank Allen as chairman and managing director of Moss Empires Ltd.
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