Wikipedia

James Leith Moody

James Leith Moody (1816–1896) JP was a British clergyman who was the first priest of the Falklands Islands, where he was a member of the first Legislative and of the first Executive Council.

The Reverend
James Leith Moody
JP
Born(1816-06-25)25 June 1816
St. Ann's Garrison, Bridgetown, Barbados
Died1896(1896-00-00) (aged 79–80)
EducationTonbridge School
Alma materSt. Mary Hall, Oxford (BA, 1840; MA, 1842)
OccupationClergyman
Known forFirst priest of the Falkland Islands
Relatives

Family

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James Leith Moody was born at St. Ann's Garrison, Barbados,[1] on 25 June 1816,[2] into a high church landed gentry family that had a history of military service.[3] He was named after Sir James Leith,[2] to whom his father had served as aide-de-camp during the Napoleonic Wars.[3][4][2]

He was the fifth child and third son,[5] of ten children,[6][7] of Colonel Thomas Moody, CRE WI, Kt.,[3] by Martha Clement (1784 - 1868) who was the daughter of the Napoleonic Wars veteran and Barbados landowner Richard Clement (1754 – 1829),[8][9] and the aunt of the Belgravia cricketers Reynold Clement and Richard Clement.[10]

His paternal grandmother was Barbara Blamire of Cumberland who was a cousin of the MP William Blamire and of the poet Susanna Blamire.[11] His first cousin was the high church clergyman, theologian, classical scholar, and freemason, Clement Moody, Vicar of Newcastle.[7][12]

Siblings

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James Leith Moody's siblings included: Major Thomas Moody (1809 - 1839);[13] Major-General Richard Clement Moody (1813 – 1887) (who was the first British Governor of the Falkland Islands, and the founder of British Columbia);[7][6][2] Colonel Hampden Clement Blamire Moody CB (1821 - 1869)[7][6] (who was Commander of the Royal Engineers in China[14][15] during the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion); and the sugar-manufacture expert Shute Barrington Moody[16][7][17] through whom his nephew was Commander Thomas Barrington Moody (b. 1848) of the Royal Navy.[18]

Career

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James Leith Moody was educated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford

James Leith was educated at Tonbridge School, from 1827 to 1835, from which he won a Smythe Exhibition, and at St. Mary Hall, Oxford (BA, 1840; MA, 1842).[5][2] He was ordained as a priest, by John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1841.[2]

He served as chaplain to the Royal Navy in China; and to the British Army in Gibraltar, Malta, and Crimea.[8][5]

He had spent five months at sea in 1845 in HMS Thalia before arrived in the Falkland Islands in October 1845, after a harsh voyage from Rio de Janeiro.[2] In The Falkland Islands, he was found to be 'querulous and eccentric', by his brother Richard Clement Moody, the Governor of the Falkland Islands, whom he accused of breaking the sabbath;[8] and also by his brother's successor as Governor George Rennie.[2] He was a member of the first Legislative and of the first Executive Council of the Falkland Islands.[2] He opened the Falkland Islands' first school on 1 January 1846 with 12 children.[2] His sermons censured drunkenness and authoritarian governors, and his ministry was accepted by Catholics in addition to Protestants.[2] He left the Falkland Islands in 1854.[2]

He was Assistant Chaplain to the British Armed Forces at Aldershot in 1859.[5][2] He during 1865 lived at Walmer in Kent.[2] He was Rector of Virginstow, Launceston, Cornwall, from 1876 to 1879,[5][2] and Vicar of St. John the Baptist, Clay Hill, Enfield, from 1879 to 1885. He retired to West Dulwich[5] where he died on 28 May 1896[2] whilst living at Clinton House.[19] He left chattels that were worth £4000 (about £200,000 in 21st century money).[2]

He and his wife Mary, who died on 28 July 1930 at the age of 99 years,[2] are buried at Beckenham Cemetery, England.[20] He is commemorated on a 1994 stamp of the 'Foundation of Stanley Series' that was issued in the Falkland Islands.[2]

Marriage and Issue

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Moody on 15 October 1863 married, at Trinity Church, Winchester, Mary Longlands, who was the second daughter of The Rev. William David Longlands,[21] who had been educated at Exeter College, Oxford, Lincoln's Inn, and The Queen's College, Oxford, and had been a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Rector of St. Gerran's, Cornwall.[22] Moody and his wife had five children.[2]

Issue

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His youngest son The Rev. Reginald Frederick Moody (13 March 1872[23] - 9 June 1955, Bromley, Kent)[24] who was educated at Dulwich College[23] and at Queens' College, Cambridge[25] between 1895 and 1901,[26] and at Sarum Theological College.[27] Reginald Frederick Moody was ordained in Durham as a deacon in 1896 and as a priest in 1897.[28] Reginald Frederick Moody worked in the church in America between 1907 and 1909[27] and was appointed as Chaplain to the British Embassy at Vienna in 1929,[26] and became Vicar of St. Stithians, Cornwall,[29] and Rector of Spennithorne, Leyburn, Yorkshire.[23] He also worked as chaplain to the British community in Bordighera until Italy entered World War II.[27] He during 1912 married Helen Miriam Stuart Collins,[24][30] who was the daughter of J. H. Collins FGS and the sister of the Bishop of Gibraltar.[31]

James Leith's other sons included The Rev. Canon William James Moody (d. 1927), formerly Rector and Sub-Dean of the Cathedral, Georgetown, British Guiana, and latterly of St. Paul's, Yelverton, who married Annie Valentine Courtney Ward, who was the daughter of Alexander Valentine Ward (d. 1874, Bombay) who was surgeon-major of Bombay.[32]

James Leith's second son George Goldney Moody (d. 1962) JP, who was born at Walmer, Kent, and was latterly of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, served in the Boer War, as a machine-gunner of the Imperial Yeomanry, under James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, in which he was captured by the Boers, at Lindley during May 1900,[33] and imprisoned, until September 1900,[33] in a camp.[34] He received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps for his service in that conflict.[33] He during 1903 married Anna Robertson, of Dog Leap, Limavady, who was the sister of biologist Muriel Robertson, and with whom he returned to South Africa where he farmed until 1920 when he returned to Britain, where he was a member of the Scout movement.[34]

James Leith's other children included Alice Penderel Moody (b. c. 1868, Malta, d. 1959, St. Albans), a lace expert who taught lacemaking on St. Helena and at 54 Sloane Square as the Principal of the Revival Pillow Lace School.[35] She was the author of Devon Pillow Lace: Its History and How to Make It (Cassell & Co., 1907); and of Lacemaking and Collecting: An Elementary Handbook (Cassell & Co., 1909).[35] She later lived at 115 Ebury Street, from which she gave elocution lessons, and her recitals to music were praised by Queen Victoria.[36] She later lived at 23 Buckingham Palace Road, London.[33]

Paternal Ancestry

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Ancestors of James Leith Moody
16. Thomas Moody (b. 1650, Moss, Campsall) (son of Henry Moody (fl. 1673) and his wife Hannah Washington)
8. Thomas Moody (1694, Alloway - 1732)
17. Elizabeth (surname unrecorded)
4. Thomas Moody (1732, Arthuret – 1796) (who had fought for the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden when he was aged only 13 years)
9. Janet Agnes Smith (married 1723, Dalrymple, as his second wife)
2. Colonel Thomas Moody ADC, CRE WI, Kt. (uncle of Clement Moody (clergyman))
10. John Blamire
5. Barbara Blamire (1740 – 1806)
1. The Rev. James Leith Moody (married Mary Longlands, at Winchester, in 1863)
6. Richard Clement (1754–1829)
3. Martha Clement (1784 – 1868) (sister-in-law of Philippa Cobham Alleyne and aunt of Richard Clement (cricketer) and Reynold Clement)
14. Thomas Dougan of Demerara
7. Susannah Dougan (first wife of Richard Clement)

References

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  1. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Moody, James Leith" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Entry for Moody, James Leith, in Dictionary of Falklands Biography".
  3. 1 2 3 Rupprecht, Anita (September 2012). "'When he gets among his countrymen, they tell him that he is free': Slave Trade Abolition, Indentured Africans and a Royal Commission". Slavery & Abolition. 33 (3): 435–455. doi:10.1080/0144039X.2012.668300. S2CID 144301729.
  4. ↑ Leith Hay, Sir Andrew (1818). Appendix to Memoirs of the Late Lieutenant-General Sir James Leith GCB. William Stockdale. p. 12.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hughes-Hughes, W. O. (1893). Entry for Moody, James Leith, in The Register of Tonbridge School from 1820 to 1893. Richard Bentley and Son, London. p. 30.
  6. 1 2 3 Hamilton Vetch, Robert. "Moody, Richard Clement, in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885 – 1900, Vol. 38".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Legacies of British Slave-Ownership: Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Moody: Profile and Legacies Summary". University College London. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Tatham, David. "Entry for Moody, Richard Clement". Dictionary of Falklands Biography.
  9. ↑ "Legacies of British Slave Ownership: Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Moody: Imperial Legacy Details".
  10. ↑ "Hampden Clement: Profile and Legacies Summary, Legacies of British Slave Ownership, UCL". University College London. 2019.
  11. ↑ "The Moody Family, Some Longtown Families". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Moody, Clement" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  13. ↑ The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume XII, by Sylvanus Urban, July to December 1839, p.214
  14. ↑ War Office of Great Britain (1863). Return to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons, dated 25 June, 1863 : for, "Copy of the Correspondence Between the Military Authorities at Shanghai and the War Office Respecting the Insalubrity of Shanghai as a Station for European Troops:" "And, Numerical Return of Sickness and Mortality of the Troops of All Arms at Shanghai, from the Year 1860 to the Latest Date, showing the Per-centage upon the Total Strength". p. 107.
  15. ↑ Meehan, John D. Chasing the Dragon in Shanghai: Canada's Early Relations with China, 1858-1952. p. 17.
  16. ↑ Headstone of Shute Barrington Moody, St. Matthew's Church, Kensington Road, Marryatville, Adelaide, South Australia
  17. ↑ "Lieut. [Col.] Thomas Moody to Sir Robert Wilmot Horton, 16 May 1833, Archive Reference/Library Class No. D3155/C/6907, Wilmot-Horton family Correspondence, Derbyshire Record Office". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Journal of Thomas Barrington Moody" (PDF). UNSW Canberra. 2017.
  19. ↑ Entry for Moody, The Reverend James Leith, in England and Wales Probate Index, 1858-1995
  20. ↑ Beckenham Cemetery Graves, The Rev. James Leith Moody
  21. ↑ The Christian Times, 21 October 1863, p. 18
  22. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891). "Longlands, William David" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: James Parker – via Wikisource.
  23. 1 2 3 Entry for Moody, Reginald Frederick, The Dulwich College Register 1619 to 1926
  24. 1 2 Entry for Moody, The Reverend Reginald Frederick, in England and Wales Probate Index, 1858-1995
  25. ↑ "Entry for Moody, Reginald Frederick, Members of Queens' College, Cambridge, 1448 - 1900, Queens' College Cambridge" (PDF).
  26. 1 2 "The Dial, Queens' College, Cambridge, No. 61, Lent Term 1929, p. 5" (PDF).
  27. 1 2 3 The Surrey Mirror and County Post, 17 June 1955, p. 12
  28. ↑ "Entry for Reginald Frederick Moody, Durham Diocesan Records: Catalogue of Clergy and Layworkers' Papers". reed.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  29. ↑ "Entry for Moody, Reginald Frederick, Stithians Families II, Edward Martin".
  30. ↑ Entry for Reginald Frederick Moody, Parish of Stithians, Cornwall, 1921 England and Wales Census
  31. ↑ The Cornish Telegraph, 29 August 1912, p. 3
  32. ↑ The Western Morning News, 23 July 1927
  33. 1 2 3 4 "Entry for Moody, George Goldney, in The Irish Imperial Yeomanry in the Anglo-Boer War 1900 - 1903".
  34. 1 2 The Northern Whig, 08 August 1962, p. 4
  35. 1 2 "Details of Alice Moody, 'St. Helena Lace & Needlework', Ian Bruce" (PDF).
  36. ↑ The Windsor and Eton Express, 1 January 1898, p. 1

Further reading

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