James Leith Moody (1816–1896) was a British clergyman who served as Chaplain to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

in China, and to the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. He was the brother of Major-General Richard Clement Moody, who was the contemporaneous first British

Governor of the Falkland Islands The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting "in His Majesty's name and on His Majesty's behalf" as the islands' ''de facto'' head of state in the absence of the British monarch ...

Family

James Leith Moody was born at St. Ann's Garrison,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

, on 25 June 1816, He was named after Sir James Leith, to whom his father had served as aide-de-camp during the Napoleonic Wars. He was the fifth of ten children of Colonel Thomas Moody, Kt., of an influential British family, and of Martha Clement (1784 - 1868), who was the daughter of the Dutch landowner Richard Clement (1754 - 1829). James Leith Moody's siblings included Major-General Richard Clement Moody (1813 – 1887), who was the contemporaneous first British

, and the founder and first

Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia The lieutenant governor of British Columbia () is the viceregal representative of the , in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The office of lieutenant governor is an office of the Crown and serves as a representative of the monarchy in ...

; and Colonel Hampden Clement Blamire Moody CB (1821 – 1869), who was Commander of the Royal Engineers in China during the Second Opium War and the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

. James Leith Moody's paternal grandmother was Barbara Blamire of Cumberland who was a cousin of the MP William Blamire and of the poet Susanna Blamire.

Career

James Leith was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and at St. Mary Hall, Oxford (BA, 1840; MA, 1863). He was ordained as a priest, by John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1841. Leith served as chaplain to the

in China, and to the

in the

, and

. Leith arrived in the Falkland Islands in October 1845, subsequent to which he was found to be 'querulous and eccentric', by his own brother

Richard Clement Moody Richard Clement Moody Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit of France (13 February 1813 – 31 March 1887) was a British governor, engineer, architect and soldier. He is best known for being the founder and the first Lieutenant ...

, who was the Governor of the Falkland Islands, and, subsequently, by his brother's successor as Governor, George Rennie, although in his feud with the latter James received the favour of the Colonial Office in London. James left the Falkland Islands in 1854. James was assistant chaplain to the British Armed Forces at Aldershot in 1859. He married Mary Willan, who was the daughter of Rev. Willan, on 15 October 1863 at Winchester, by whom he had 5 children. His wife Mary died on 28 July 1930 at the age of 99 years. He during 1865 lived at Walmer in Kent. He was Rector of Virginstow, Launceston, Cornwall, from 1876 to 1879. He was Vicar of St. John the Baptist, Clay Hill, Enfield, from 1879 to 1885, when he retired to Dulwich, where he died in 1896. He is commemorated on a stamp, of 1994, in the Foundation of Stanley Series of stamps, which was issued in the Falkland Islands.

Family

Career

References

Further reading