Richard Clement Moody

His Excellency, Major-General Richard Clement Moody FICE FRGS RIBA (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British Imperial Governor and Royal Engineer.
He was the founder of British Columbia as Colony of British Columbia (1858–66), having been hand picked to "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific". The Colonial Office under Lord Lytton desired to send to the nascent Colony 'representatives of the best of British culture' who possessed ‘courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world’ and decided to send Moody, whom the British Government considered to be the archetype of the 'English gentleman and British Officer’ as Commander of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Moody is considered to be the founding father of British Columbia. He selected the site for and founded the new capital of British Columbia, New Westminster, established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park, and named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and Port Coquitlam's 400-foot "Mary Hill" after his wife, Mary. He also designed the first Coat of arms of British Columbia. Port Moody in British Columbia is named after him.
He was also the first British Governor of the Falkland Islands, whose settlements he planned. He selected the site for and founded Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, and Moody Brook in the Falkland Islands is named after him. He also served as Executive Officer at Malta.
The son of Colonel Thomas Moody JP, Knight (Order of Military Merit), Richard Clement displayed prodigious abilities in mathematics, music, and architectural draughtsmanship from an early age, enjoying both science and the fine arts, entering the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich as a Gentleman Cadet aged 14, becoming Head of School the following year, and leaving school having completed his examinations one year later.
He planned the restoration of Edinburgh Castle on the basis of musical chords, for which he was summoned to Windsor Castle to present his plans to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, both of whom were delighted. He has been described as 'a visionary in a plain land' and ‘a man who could conceive of Edinburgh Castle in terms of a musical score'.
He served as Professor of Fortifications at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Commanding Royal Engineer of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Commanding Royal Engineer at Chatham Dockyard. He also introduced tussock grass into Great Britain from Falkland, for which he received the gold medal of the Royal Agricultural Society. He was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 23rd of April, 1839, and was therefore one of
its oldest members. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Member of the Royal Agricultural Society an Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Birth and Ancestry

Moody was born at St Ann's Garrison, Barbados, West Indies, the third of ten children of Colonel Thomas Moody JP, Knight (Order of Military Merit), and Martha Clement (1764 - 1868), daughter of Richard Clement (1754 - 1829), a slave plantation owner of Barbados. His siblings included Major Thomas Moody (1809 - 1839), Reverend James Leith Moody (b.1816), Chaplain to Royal Navy in China and to the British Army in the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Malta, and Crimea, Shute Barrington Moody MICE (b. 1818), sugar plantation owner in West Indies, and Colonel Hampden Clement Blamire Moody CB, Commander of the Royal Engineers in China and Member of Hudson's Bay Company (1821 - 1869). His paternal grandmother was Barbara Blamire, a member of the Blamire family of Cumberland and cousin of William Blamire MP and the poet Susanna Blamire.

Education

Richard Clement was educated by private tutors before enrolling, at the age of 14, in the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich as a Gentleman Cadet, where he became Head of the School in his second year before leaving the following year. He displayed the prodigious ability in mathematics, music, architectural draughtsmanship from an early age and sustained a great interest in both science and the fine arts throughout his life.

Overview of Military Career

Richard Clement He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1830, promoted to Lieutenant 1835, a Second Captain in 1844, a Captain in 1847, a Lieutenant Colonel in 1855, a Colonel in 1858. In 1841 he became Lieutenant-Governor of the Falkland-Islands: this position was renamed Governor of the Falkland Islands in 1843, when he also became Commander-in-Chief of the Falkland Islands. He was Executive Officer at Malta during the Crimean War. He was the Commander of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. He also became a Colonel of the British Army in 1858 and a Major-General of the Army in 1866.

He served as Professor of Fortifications at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from July 1838 to October 1841, Commanding Royal Engineer of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Commanding Royal Engineer at Chatham Dockyard between 1864 and 1866.

Marriage to Mary Hawks

On 6 July 1852, at St Andrew's Church, Newcastle, Moody married Mary Susannah Hawks of the Hawks industrial dynasty, daughter of merchant banker Joseph Hawks JP DL, Sheriff of Newcastle, and Mary Boyd of the Boyd merchant banking family. Mary Hawks's maternal uncles included Admiral Benedictus Marwood Kelly and industrialist Edward Fenwick Boyd.

Moody's wife was a direct descendant of Agnes Chaytor and of the ancient House of Clervaux, after whom, in line with family tradition, she and Richard named their son, Henry de Clervaux Moody, and via whom she was a direct descendant of Edward III, the House of Plantagenet, and Charlemagne on multiple lines.

After their marriage, Richard and Mary Moody embarked on The Grand Tour of Europe, visiting France, Switzerland, and Germany.

Richard Clement Moody named the 400-foot hill in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, "Mary Hill" after his wife, Mary. However, Mary Moody disliked the nascent colony of British Columbia, and described living their as 'roughing it in the bush' relative to living in England. The Royal British Columbia Museum possesses a trove of 42 letters written by Mary Moody from various colonies of the British Empire, mostly from the Colony of British Columbia (1858–66), to her mother and her sister, Emily Hawks, in England. Mary Moody was highly literate, having been tutored in literature, penmanship, and French, and her letters have been of great interest to scholars studying the perspective of the English ruling class in the colonies of the British Empire.

Issue

Moody and Mary Hawks had 13 children:

1. Josephine 'Zeffie' Mary (b.1853, Newcastle, d. 1923). A fabric embroiderer based at Fisherton de la Mere, Wiltshire. Married Arthur Newall, son of Robert Stirling Newall, in 1883. Had 2 sons, Robert Stanley FSA, (b.1884), an Office of Woods archaeologist who made landmark excavations at Stonehenge with William Hawley, and Basil (b.1885).
2. Colonel Richard Stanley Hawks Moody CB, Military Knight of Windsor (b. Oct 23 1854, Malta, - d. March 10, 1930). Married Mary Latimer, 1881, and had four children. His eldest daughter, Mary Latimer, married James Fitzgerald Martin. His youngest daughter, Barbara Bindon, married James William Webb-Jones
3. Charles Edmund (b. 1856, Edinburgh). Attended Cheltenham College. Businessman. Married Kate Ellershaw, 1885. Had 3 daughters, the eldest of whom, Kathleen (b.1886) married Sir Donald Kingdom, Chief Justice of the Gold Coast.
4. Walter Clement (b. 1858, Edinburgh, d. 1936). Married Laura Rynd, 1888.
5. Susan (b 1860, Government House, New Westminster, British Columbia, d.1940).
6. Mary (b.1861 Government House, New Westminster, British Columbia, d. 1938).
7. Margaret (b. 1863, Government House, New Westminster, British Columbia). Married Rev. Richard Lowndes, 1887. Had 2 sons and 2 daughters.
8. Captain Henry de Clervaux (b. 1864, d. 13 December 1900, killed in action at Battle of Nooitgedacht, Second Boer War). Named after his ancestor William Clervaux of Croft, from whom he descended via Sir William Chaytor. Attended Rugby School and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Served in the Burmese Expedition between 1885-87 with the 2nd Battaltion the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and received the medal with clasp. Served in Second Boer War as aide-de-camp to Major.Gen. Clements, commanding the 12th Infantry Brigade and was mentioned in despatches Sept. 10th, 1901. Married Daisy Leighton. No issue. Buried at Krugersdorp Garden of Remembrance, South Africa, and commemorated at Hereford Cathedral.
9. Grace (b.1865, d.1947).
10. Gertrude (b.1869, d.1914).
11. Major George Robert Boyd (b. 1865, d. 1936). Married Dorothy Wingfield. His daughter, Rosemary Moody (1903 - 1982), married Richard Edward Holford (1909 - 1983), son of Captain Charles Frederick Holford OBE DSO, on 10 August 1935
12. Ruth and Rachel (Twins b. 20 April 1870, d. (both) 21 April 1870).

• "The Photographic Album of Richard Clement Moody, Royal British Columbia Museum" (PDF). 
• "Fisherton de la Mere, Wiltshire, British History Online". 
• Marsh, Gail, Early Twentieth Century Embroidery, GMC Publications, pp.141 - 143
• "Sarsen,org, A List of Stonehenge Excavations". 
• "Entry for WEBB-JONES, James William (1904 - 1965) in Who's Who, Oxford Index". Oxford University Press. 
• Hunter, Andrew Alexander (1890). Cheltenham College Register, 1841-1889. George Bell and Sons, London. p. 295. 
• The Cambria Daily Leader, Thursday 20 August 1914, The National Library of Wales
• The London Gazette: no. 25262. p. 4169. 24 August 1883. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
• Dooner, Mildred G. The Last Post - Roll of Officers who fell in South Africa 1899-1902. Naval and Military Press. 
• Michell, Arthur Tompson. Rugby School Register, Vol. III, 1874-1905. A. J. Lawrence, Rugby Press. p. 57. 
• "Colonel Moody's Family". Retrieved 4 July 2016. 
• "Boer War Memorial, Hereford Cathedral". Retrieved 5 December 2016. 
• "Conqueror5". Retrieved 4 July 2016. 
• "Descendants of King James I & VI". Retrieved 4 July 2016. 
• "Album - Colonel Richard Clement Moody, Royal Engineers [British Columbia]" (PDF). 

Governor of the Falkland Islands

In 1833 the United Kingdom asserted authority over the Falkland Islands. Moody left England on 1 October 1841 for the Falklands, having been appointed Lieutenant-Governor. This post was renamed Governor of the Falkland Islands in 1843, when he also became Commander-in-Chief of the Falkland Islands. When Moody arrived, the Falklands was 'almost in a state of anarchy', but he used his powers 'with great wisdom and moderation' to develop the Islands' infrastructure and, commanding detachment of sappers, erected government offices, a school and barracks, residences, ports, and a new road system. Moody selected the site for and founded Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands. Moody Brook is named after him.

In 1845 Moody introduced tussock grass into Great Britain from Falkland, for which he received the gold medal of the Royal Agricultural Society. The Coat of arms of the Falkland Islands notably includes an image of tussock grass.

Moody returned to England in February 1849.

Musical Plan for Edinburgh Castle and Queen Victoria

Moody displayed prodigious musical abilities from an early age. Whilst on his Grand Tour he drew up plans for the restoration of Edinburgh Castle that were based on a musical architectural principle in which measurements were made 'drawn to musical chords'. He has been described as 'a visionary in a plain land' and ‘a man who could conceive of Edinburgh Castle in terms of a musical score'. His plans so impressed Lord Panmure that he was invited to Windsor Castle to present them to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, both of whom were talented musicians and both of whom were delighted. The Queen commissioned him to implement them directly when he returned to Britain from Germany, where he was convalescing from the Yellow Fever that had compelled him to end his command at Malta. In 1855 he was appointed Commanding Royal Engineer at Edinburgh. During his time in Edinburgh he met some of the most learned men of the age in both science and the fine arts, but the implementation of his plans was disrupted by the retirement of Lord Panmure and they were never implemented. They are retained at the War Office, where 'they still remain a memorial to Moody's talent'.

Founder of British Columbia

Selection

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Moody was hand-picked by the Colonial Office, under Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, to establish British order and to transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west" and "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific". Lytton desired to send to the colony 'representatives of the best of British culture, not just a police force’: he sought men who possessed ‘courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world’ and he decided to send Moody, whom the Government considered to be the archetypal 'English gentleman and British Officer’ at the head of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment.

Moody and his family arrived in British Columbia in December 1858, commanding the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment. He was sworn in as the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and appointed Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia. On the advice of Lytton, Moody hired Robert Burnaby as his personal secretary, and the two became close friends.

Moody's letter to his friend Arthur Blackwood Esq. at the Colonial Office, dated February 1, 1859, contains several passages of sublime poetical description that demonstrate the qualities for which he was preferred.

Ned McGowan's War

Moody had hoped to begin immediately the foundation of a capital city, but upon his arrival at Fort Langley he learned of an outbreak of violence at the settlement of Hill's Bar. This led to an incident popularly known as "Ned McGowan's War", where Moody successfully quashed a group of rebellious American miners. Moody describes the incident thus:

"The notorious Ned McGowan, of Californian celebrity at the head of a band of Yankee Rowdies defying the law! Every peaceable citizen frightened out of his wits!—Summons & warrants laughed to scorn! A Magistrate seized while on the Bench, & brought to the Rebel's camp, tried, condemned, & heavily fined! A man shot dead shortly before! Such a tale to welcome me at the close of a day of great enjoyment." ' '

He enjoyed a warm reception for his success that he describes thus: "They gave me a Salute, firing off their loaded Revolvers over my head—Pleasant—Balls whistling over one's head! as a compliment! Suppose a hand had dropped by accident! I stood up, & raised my cap & thanked them in the Queen's name for their loyal reception of me".

The Foundation of New Westminster

In British Columbia, Moody ‘wanted to build a city of beauty in the wilderness’ and planned his city as an iconic visual metaphor for British dominance, ‘styled and located with the objective of reinforcing the authority of the Crown and of the robe’. Subsequent to the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland. He selected the site and founded the new capital, New Westminster. He selected the site due to its the strategic excellence of its position and the quality of its port. He was also struck by the majestic beauty of the site, writing in his letter to Blackwood,

"The entrance to the Frazer is very striking--Extending miles to the right & left are low marsh lands (apparently of very rich qualities) & yet fr the Background of Superb Mountains-- Swiss in outline, dark in woods, grandly towering into the clouds there is a sublimity that deeply impresses you. Everything is large and magnificent, worthy of the entrance to the Queen of England's dominions on the Pacific mainland. [...] My imagination converted the silent marshes into Cuyp-like pictures of horses and cattle lazily fattening in rich meadows in a glowing sunset. [...] The water of the deep clear Frazer was of a glassy stillness, not a ripple before us, except when a fish rose to the surface or broods of wild ducks fluttered away".

Moody designed the first Coat of arms of British Columbia.

However, Lord Lytton 'forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town’ and the efforts of Moody's Engineers were continuously hampered by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Douglas, 'made it impossible for [Moody's] design to be fulfilled’.

The Feud with Governor Douglas

Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Moody was engaged in a bitter feud with Sir James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island, whose jurisdiction overlapped with his own. Moody's position as Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor was one of ‘higher prestige [and] lesser authority' than that of Douglas, despite Moody's vastly superior social position in the eyes of the Engineers and the British Government. Moody had been selected by Lord Lytton due to his possession of the quality of the archetypal "English gentleman and British Officer", his family was "eminently respectable": he was the son of Colonel Thomas Moody (1779-1849), one of the wealthiest mercantilists in the West Indies, who owned much of the land in the islands where Douglas's father owned a small amount of land and from which Douglas's mother, "a half-breed", originated. Governor Douglas's ethnicity and made him "an affront to Victorian society". Mary Moody, the descendant of the Hawks industrial dynasty and the Boyd merchant banking family, wrote on 4 August 1859 "it is not pleasant to serve under a Hudson's Bay Factor" and that the "Governor and Richard can never get on". In letter to the Colonial Office of 27 December 1858, Richard Clement Moody boasts that he has "entirely disarmed [Douglas] of all jealously" Douglas repeatedly insulted the Engineers by attempting to assume their command and refusing to acknowledge their value in the nascent colony.

Margaret A. Ormsby, author of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Moody (2002), condemns Moody for a contribution to the abortive development of the city. However, most other historians have exonerated Moody for the abortive development of the city and consider his achievement to be impressive, especially with regard to the perpetual insufficiency of funds and the personally motivated opposition of Douglas, whose opposition to the project continually retarded its development. Robert Edgar Cail, Don W. Thomson, Ishiguro, and Scott have praised Moody for his contribution, the latter accusing Ormsby of being ‘adamant in her dislike of Colonel Moody’ despite the evidence, and almost all biographies of Moody, including those of the Institute of Civil Engineers, the Royal Engineers, and the British Columbia Historical Association, are flattering.

Other developments

Moody and the Royal Engineers also built an extensive road network, including what would become Kingsway, connecting New Westminster to False Creek, the North Road between Port Moody and New Westminster, and the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park. He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named Port Coquitlam's 400-foot "Mary Hill" after his wife. As part of the surveying effort, several tracts were designated "government reserves", which included Stanley Park as a military reserve (a strategic location in case of an American invasion). The Pre-emption act did not specify conditions for distributing the land, so large parcels were snapped up by speculators, including 3,750 acres (1,517 hectares) by Moody himself. For this he was criticized by local newspapermen for land grabbing. Port Moody is named after him. It was established at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack from the US.

Moody's 5th, 6th, and 7th children, all daughters, were born at Government House, New Westminster.

Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment was disbanded in July, 1863. The Moody family, only 22 men and 8 wives returned to England, while the rest, 130 sappers, elected to remain in BC. Scott contends that the departure of the Engineers 'doomed' the development of the settlement and the fruition of Lord Lytton's dream. Chartres Brew replaced Moody as land commissioner.

Later years

Returning to England, Moody was promoted Regimental Colonel, and the Royal Engineers in Chatham were placed under his command.

He was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers on the 23rd of April, 1839, and was therefore one of its oldest members. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Member of the Royal Agricultural Society an Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

On 25 January 1866 he was promoted Major-General and retired. During his retirement, he lived at Caynham Court, Ludlow, Shropshire and later at Fairfield, Charmouth, Lyme Regis.

He died at Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth on 31 March 1887 and is buried at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth.