Architect. The son of a clerk-of-works, Moffatt's place of birth is uncertain. He began his career in Edinburgh articled to the architect William Burn (1789 - 1870) who had also been his father's employer. He later moved to Doncaster in Yorkshire (1838-58), before returning to Edinburgh. He designed buildings across Britain, principally responsible for institutional and public buildings, including workhouses, hospitals, schools and churches, with a few private houses. Notable works include Wakefield Corn Exchange (1836), Middlesbrough Town Hall (1846), the Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries (1867), an extension to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (1874) and the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum (1877). He built workhouses in Rotherham (1837), Selby (1838), Doncaster (1839), Gateshead (1840), Dalkeith (1848), Kinghorn (1849), Hull (1851), Dundee (1854), Latheron (1854), Thurso (1854), Thornhill (1854), Peebles (1856) and Ayr (1857); hospitals in Dundee (1854), Banff (1860) and Newcastle upon Tyne (1866); schools in Dalkeith (1873), Portobello (1873), Edinburgh (1874), Arbroath (1874), Burntisland (1874), Glenrothes (1875), Aberdour (1879) and Donibristle (1879); and housing for workers, for example Rosemount Buildings in Edinburgh.
Moffatt died in Edinburgh.