Richard Moody

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Col. Richard Clement Moody (February 13, 1813 in Barbados- March 31, 1887 in Bournemouth, England, was a Lieutenant-Governor, and later Governor, of the Falkland Islands, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. While serving under this post, he selected the site of the new capital, New Westminster. Moody was also a Colonel in the Royal Engineers, and was the commander of the Columbia Detachment, the force that was brought to BC to establish British order during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.

The arrival of the Royal Engineers led to an incident popularly known as "Ned McGowan's War," where Moody faced down a group of rebellious American miners, but soon the Engineer's task was turned to preparing for settlement of the area.

Following the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Colonel Moody and his engineers assisted the process of settling the Lower Mainland by surveying the area surrounding the capital "Queenborough" (rechristened New Westminster by Queen Victoria on 20 July 1859). 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.

Moody and the Royal Engineers also built an extensive road network, including what would become Kingsway, connecting New Westminster to False Creek and North Road between Port Moody and New Westminster. 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 Columbia Detachment was disbanded in July, 1863, and only 22 men and 8 wives elected to remain in BC, while the rest, including Moody, returned to England.

[edit] Sources

• Daniel Francis (Editor) (1999). Encyclopedia of British Columbia. Harbour Publishing. ISBN 1-55017-200-X. 

• Derek Hayes (2005). Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley. Douglas & McIntyre, 26-29. ISBN 978-1-55365-283-0.