Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment
The Columbia Detachment of the Royal Engineers was a contingent of the
British Columbia
Selection
When news of the
Richard Clement Moody and his wife Mary Moody (of the
Ned McGowan's War
Moody had hoped to begin immediately the foundation of a capital city, but on his arrival at Fort Langley, he learned of an insurrection, at the settlement of Hill's Bar, by a notorious outlaw, Ned McGowan, and some restive gold miners.[9] Moody repressed the rebellion, which became popularly known as 'Ned McGowan's War', without loss of life.[9] Moody described the incident:
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.[11]
Moody described the response to his success: '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'.[12]
The Foundation of British Columbia
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'.[13] Subsequent to the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland. He founded the new capital city, New Westminster,[9][14] at a site of dense forest of Douglas pine[14] that he selected for its strategic excellence including the quality of its port.[13] He, in his letter to his friend Arthur Blackwood of the Colonial Office that is dated 1 February 1859, described the majestic beauty of the site:[15][6]
"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".[4]
Moody designed the roads and the settlements of New Westminster,
The British designated multiple tracts as government reserves. The Pre-emption Act did not specify conditions for the distribution of the land, and, consequently, large areas were bought by speculators.[1] Moody requisitioned 3,750 acres (sc. 1,517 hectares) for himself,[1] and, on this land, he subsequently built for himself, and owned, Mayfield, a model farm near New Westminster.[17] Moody was criticised by journalists for land grabbing,[1] but his requisitions were ordered by the Colonial Office,[9] and Moody throughout his tenure in British Columbia received the approbation of the British authorities in London,[14] and was in British Columbia described as 'the real father of New Westminster'.[18] However, Lord Lytton, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, 'forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town' and the effort of Moody's Engineers was continually impeded by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Sir James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island, whom Sir Thomas Frederick Elliot (1808 - 1880) described as 'like any other fraud',[19] 'made it impossible for [Moody's] design to be fulfilled'.[20]
Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Moody feuded with Douglas whose jurisdictions overlapped. Moody's offices of Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor were of 'higher prestige [and] lesser authority' than that of Douglas, whom the British Government which had selected Moody to 'out manoeuvre the old Hudson's Bay Factor [Governor Douglas]'.
Margaret A. Ormsby, who was the author of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Moody (2002), unpopularly censures Moody for the abortive development of the New Westminster.[1] However, most significant historians commend Moody's contribution and exculpate Moody from responsibility for the abortive development of New Westminster, primarily because of the perpetual insufficiency of funds and of the personally motivated opposition by Douglas whom Sir Thomas Frederick Elliot (1808 - 1880) described as 'like any other fraud'.[29] Robert Burnaby observed that Douglas proceeded with 'muddling [Moody's] work and doubling his expenditure'[21] and with employing administrators to 'work a crooked policy against Moody' to 'retard British Columbia and build up... the stronghold of Hudson's Bay interests' and their own 'landed stake'.[30] Therefore, Robert Edgar Cail,[31] Don W. Thomson,[32] Ishiguro, and Scott commended Moody for his contribution, and Scott accused Ormsby of being 'adamant in her dislike of Colonel Moody' despite the majority of evidence,[33] and almost all other biographies of Moody, including that by the Institution of Civil Engineers, and that by the Royal Engineers, and that by the British Columbia Historical Association, commend Moody's achievements in British Columbia.
The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment was disbanded in July 1863. The Moody family (which now consisted of Moody, and his wife, and seven legitimate children)[9] and the 22 Royal Engineers who wished to return to England, who had 8 wives between them, departed for England.[9] 130 of the original Columbia Detachment decided to remain in British Columbia.[1] Scott contends that the dissolution of the Columbia Detachment, and the consequent departure of Moody, 'doomed' the development of the settlement and the realisation of Lord Lytton's dream.[34] A vast congregation of New Westminster citizens gathered at the dock to bid farewell to Moody as his boat departed for England. Moody wanted to return to British Columbia, but he died before he was able to do so.[35] Moody left his library behind, in New Westminster, to become the public library of New Westminster.[9][1]
In April 1863, the Councillors of New Westminster decreed that 20 acres should be reserved and named Moody Square after Richard Clement Moody. The area around Moody Square that was completed only in 1889 has also been named Moody Park after Moody.
Sources
- "The Photographic Album of Richard Clement Moody, Royal British Columbia Museum" (PDF).
- "Letters of Mary Moody, Royal British Columbia Museum Archives" (PDF). Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 90, Issue 1887, 1887, pp. 453-455, OBITUARY. MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD CLEMENT MOODY, R.E., 1813-1181.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Richard Clement Moody.
- "Imperial Relations: Histories of family in the British Empire, Esme Cleall, Laura Ishiguro, and Emily J. Manktelow". Project Muse. )
- "Col. Richard Clement Moody". Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- Daniel Francis (Editor) (1999). )
- Derek Hayes (2005). Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley. Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 26–29. ISBN 978-1-55365-283-0.
- Arthur S. Morton (1973) [1939]. A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press. p. 775f. ISBN 0-8020-0253-6.
- Scott, Laura Elaine (1983). The Imposition of British Culture as Portrayed in the New Westminster Capital Plan of 1859 to 1862. Simon Fraser University.
- Howard, Joseph Jackson (1893–1906). Heraldic Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 8. pp. 161–164..
- Margaret A. Ormsby, "Richard Clement Moody" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, (1982)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ormsby (1982)
- ^ a b Drummond, Sir Henry (1908). "XXIII". Rambling Recollections, Vol. 1. Macmillan and Co., London. p. 272.
- ^ Donald J. Hauka, McGowan's War, Vancouver: 2003, New Star Books, p.146
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4426-9184-1.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 13.
- ^ a b Scott (1983), p. 19.
- ^ "Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive, Gillingham, Kent: Individual Records" (PDF). Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tatham, David. "Moody, Richard Clement". Dictionary of Falklands Biography.
- ^ "Colonel Moody and what he did prior to arriving in British Columbia". Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- ^ Moody (1951), p. 95.
- ^ Moody (1951), p. 97.
- ^ a b Scott (1983), p. 26.
- ^ a b c d e f g Vetch1894, p. 332
- ^ Moody (1951), pp. 85–107.
- ^ "Heraldic Science Héraldique, Arms and Devices of Provinces and Territories, British Columbia". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ a b Brissenden, Constance (2009). The History of Metropolitan Vancouver's Hall of Fame: Who's Who, Moody. Vancouver History.
- ^ Edward, Mallandaine (1887). The British Columbia Directory, containing a General Directory of Business Men and Householders…. E. Mallandaine and R. T. Williams, Broad Street, Victoria, British Columbia. p. 215 in New Westminster District Directory.
- ^ "'Elliot, Thomas Frederick', University of Victoria British Columbia, Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia". Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 27.
- ^ a b "Letters of Robert Burnaby, 3rd December 1859".
- ^ Dorothy Blakey Smith, ed., 'The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858 - 1859,' British Columbia
- ^ Scott (1983), pp. 19–20.
- ^ Howard, Joseph Jackson; Crisp, Frederick Arthur, eds. (1900). "Boyd of Moor House, Co. Durham". Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 8. pp. 161–164.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 23.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 25.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 109.
- ^ Scott (1983), pp. 115–117.
- ^ "'Elliot, Thomas Frederick', University of Victoria British Columbia, Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia". Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ "Letters of Robert Burnaby, 22 February 1859".
- ISBN 978-0-7748-0029-7.
- ISBN 9780660115580.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 131.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 137.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 67.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 62.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 65.
- ^ The Royal British Columbia Museum: Annual Report: 2013 - 2014
Works cited
- Moody, Richard Clement (January 1951). Willard E. Ireland (ed.). "Letter of Colonel Richard Clement Moody, R.E., to Arthur Blackwood, February 1, 1859". British Columbia Historical Quarterly. XV (1 & 2): 85–107.
- Ormsby, Margaret A. (1982). "Moody, Richard Clement". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 38. pp. 332–333.