Massey's parents were poor. When little more than a child, he was made to work hard in a silk factory, which he afterward deserted for the equally laborious occupation of straw plaiting. These early years were rendered gloomy by much distress and deprivation, against which the young man strove with increasing spirit and virility, educating himself in his spare time, and gradually cultivating his innate taste for literary work.

"During the later years of his life, (from about 1870 onwards) Massey became interested increasingly in Egyptology and the similarities that exist between ancient Egyptian mythology and the Gospel stories. He studied the extensive Egyptian records housed in the British Museum, eventually teaching himself to decipher the hieroglyphics."

Massey's first public appearance as a writer was in connection with a journal called the Spirit of Freedom, of which he became editor, and he was only twenty-two when he published his first volume of poems, Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love (1850). These he followed in rapid succession with The Ballad of Babe Christabel (1854), War Waits (1855), Havelock's March (1860), and A Tale of Eternity (1869).

Many years afterward in 1889, Massey collected the best of the contents of these volumes, with additions, into a two-volume edition of his poems called My Lyrical Life. He also published works dealing with Spiritualism, the study of Shakespeare's sonnets (1872 and 1890), and theological speculation.

Massey's poetry has a certain rough and vigorous element of sincerity and strength which easily accounts for its popularity at the time of its production. He treated the theme of Sir Richard Grenville before Tennyson thought of using it, with much force and vitality. Indeed, Tennyson's own praise of Massey's work is still its best eulogy, for the Laureate found in him a poet of fine lyrical impulse, and of a rich half-Oriental imagination. The inspiration of his poetry is essentially British; he was a patriot to the core.

In regards to Egyptology, Massey first published The Book of the Beginnings, followed by The Natural Genesis. His most prolific work is Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World, published shortly before his death. His work, which draws comparisons between the Judeo-Christian religion and the Egyptian religion, is not considered significant in the field of modern Egyptology and is not mentioned in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt or any other work of modern Egyptology. The Leading Religion Writer in Canada ... Does He Know What He's Talking About?

One of the more sensational aspects of Massey's writing was the parallels he drew between Jesus of Nazareth and the Egyptian god Horus. These are primarily contained in his book The Natural Genesis.

Massey's writings influenced Alvin Boyd Kuhn, and later the ordained Anglican priest and lecturer Tom Harpur, who presented his own case in his book "The Pagan Christ", in which he argued that all of the essential ideas of both Judaism and Christianity came primarily from Egyptian religion.

Claims of similarity include that both were born of a virgin on December 25, both taught in a temple at age 12, had 12 Disciples, was baptized in the river Eridanus or Iarutana (Jordan) by "Anup the Baptizer," gave a sermon on the mount, healed the sick, raised a man from the dead (Lazarus for Jesus, El-Azar-us for Horus), and died by crucifixion for the atonement of the world's sins, only to resurrect three days later.

However, W. Ward Gasque conducted a world-wide poll of twenty leading Egyptologists - including Professor Kenneth A. Kitchen of the University of Liverpool and Ron Leprohan, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Toronto- in Canada, USA, UK, Australia, Germany, and Austria to verify if there was any academic support for these claims. The scholars were unanimous in dismissing the claimed parallels. One scholar, who called it "fringe nonsense", also cautioned that "[e]gyptology has the unenviable distinction of being one of those disciplines that almost anyone can lay claim to, and the unfortunate distinction of being probably the one most beleaguered by 'false prophets.". Massey himself said: "They must find it hard to take Truth for Authority who have so long mistaken Authority for Truth."