William Edward Moorhouse founded Moorhouse Opticians in 1919.

'Ted' as William Edward was known studied at Manchester University to become a certified optician (F.B.O.A.) and worked at the Fattorini shop in Bolton.  Thomas Fattorini (a cousin of Ted's) had shops in Skipton and Bolton, which mainly sold jewellery, but also barometers and glasses. Ted's brother Charles trained to be a watchmaker and jeweller at the Skipton branch.

During the 1st World War Ted was called up for military service and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Corporal training at Aldershot, and was then posted to the Military Hospital at Becketts Park in Leeds.

In 1917 he married Ethel and they lived in Leeds for a couple of years while he was still working at Becketts Park.

In 1919 Ted started testing eyes in a terraced house in Cambridge Street in Castleford. Within two years he had moved into the first floor of Bank Chambers on Carleton Street and then into another property at the end of Carleton Street, before finally moving in 1932 to 103 Carlton Street (which is still the site of one of the company's premises).

In 1921 Ted met Albert Critchley at a meeting of the Yorkshire Optical Society and they became friends.  Albert had been running a mobile opticians service in Boston Spa and the two men teamed up to form a partnership and open a practice in Pontefract. Albert still continued with his mobile work until the Pontefract practice became busier.

The practice in Pontefract started in Gilligate before moving to Salter Row and then in 1930 to Beast Fair.  Salter Row was kept on as a workshop.  In 1970 the practice was moved to Ropergate.   This building was singled out for an award in the Pontefract Civic Trust's 'Facade of the Year'.

Ted was a keen advertiser of the business in the local press, always writing and creating the layout himself. In his business adverts he called himself E.W. Moorhouse, probably to avoid confusion over the trading name he was using.