Richard Clement Moody

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 there 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 British 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).

Settlement

In 1833 the United Kingdom asserted authority over the Falkland Islands. In 1841, aged only 28, Moody was appointed the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Falklands and departed England for Falkland on 1 October 1841. 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, on board the Hebe, at Port Louis in January 1842, 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 prepared a General Report to the British Government in which he recommended that the Government encourage settlers and promote extensive sheep farming. He estimated the population of sheep to be 40,000 in 1842 and encouraged the Government to import quality stock from Britain to be crossed with the local breeds: this policy was implemented to considerable success and was adopted by future settlers.

The Foundation of Stanley

Almost directly after Moody’s arrival in 1842 the Antarctic Expedition of Sir James Clark Ross sailed into Port Louis. Ross advised Moody that he should choose for his capital a site that was more easily accessible to sailing ships than Port Louis. Moody followed his advice and investigated the suitability of Port William, which had been recommended by Lord John Russell, which Moody concluded to be the best site for the new capital of the Falkland Islands. He renamed the site Port Stanley after Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and founded and developed the city, to which he moved his administration moved in 1845. Moody designed Government House in Stanley, although his design was only completed in 1850, one year after he had returned to England. Sir James Ross subsequently named Moody Point, off Joinville Island in Antarctica, after Richard Clement Moody.

The records Moody’s ‘conscientious’ and ‘impressive’ administration of Falkland are held in the Jane Cameron National Archives in Stanley. He enacted laws, collected duties and taxes, and enforced order. He asked the British authorities for a doctor, a magistrate, and a chaplain: all three were dispatched, the latter being Richard Clement’s brother, James Leith Moody, and Richard Clement established a court of law, a gaol, and a church. He established an executive council and a legislative council in 1845, each consisting of British officials, merchants, and local landowners.

Militia

In 1845, animosity on the River Plate between the British and the French fleets and the Argentine Government of Juan Manuel de Rosas provoked Moody to request an artillery contingent from Britain and to raise his own militia using his Royal Engineers to train the local population. In 1891, the militia founded by Moody was renamed the Falkland Islands Volunteer Force: it was later renamed again to the Falkland Islands Defence Force, and it saw action in both World Wars and during the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982, when, coincidentally, one of the focal points of the Argentine offensive was Moody Brook, named after Richard Clement.

Permanent infrastructure

Moody’s authoritarian approach caused antipathy between him and his subordinates, especially his unbalanced brother James Leith, the Chaplain to the British Force in Falkland, although, from the perspective of the British Government, his tenure was an overwhelming success, the result of which has been 180 years of British administration of the islands.

In 1994, to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of Stanley, Moody, together with James Clark Ross and Lord Stanley, was commemorated on the Falkland Islands stamps issued. Government House in Stanley, which was designed by Moody, featured on the stamps issued in 1933, to commemorate the Centenary, on those issued in 1983, to commemorate 150 years of British administration of the Islands, and on those issued in 1996 to commemorate the visit, in January of that year, by Princess Anne. Moody Brook is named after Richard Clement.

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. Upon his return, he tended to his father, Colonel Thomas Moody, Kt.

Executive Officer of Malta

In 1854, after the beginning of the Crimean War, Moody was appointed Executive Officer of Malta. Whilst at Malta, his eldest son, Richard Stanley Hawks Moody, later a distinguished Colonel in the British Army, was born on 23 October 1854 at Strada Reale, Valetta. However, Richard Clement contracted Yellow Fever whilst in Malta and was compelled to resign his command at the end of the year. He took sick leave in Germany to convalesce.

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'.

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. In British Columbia, he was described as ‘the real father of 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. Port Moody was established by Richard Clement at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack from the US; it was, subsequently, named after him. Moody also established a townsite at Hastings, which was later absorbed into Vancouver. As part of the survey by the Royal Engineers, multiple tracts were designated as "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.

Moody built and owned Mayfield, a model farm near New Westminster.

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. A vast crowd of New Westminster citizens gathered at the dock to bid farewell to Moody as his boat departed for England. Moody always dreamed of returning to British Columbia, but died before he was able to do so.

In April 1863, the Councillors of New Westminster decreed that an area of 20 acres in the suburbs should be reserved and named Moody Square in honour of Richard Clement. The area around Moody Square, eventually completed only in 1889, has also been named Moody Park in his honour. Numerous developments have occurred in and around Moody Park, including Century House, which was opened by Princess Margaret on July 23, 1958. In 1984, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of New Westminster, a monument in honour of Richard Clement Moody, at the entrance of the park, was unveiled by Mayor Tom Baker.

Later years

On his return 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 23 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. Moody died at Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth on 31 March 1887, before he was able to fulfil his dream of returning to British Columbia, and is buried at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth.