William John Charles Möens (1833–1904) was an English writer, known as an antiquarian dealing with

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

topics.

William John Charles Moens English Travellers

Life

Born at

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and origi ...

on 12 August 1833, he was the second son of Jacob Bernelot Möens, a Dutch merchant who settled young in London, and his wife Susan Baker, daughter of William Wright of the City of London, a solicitor. He was privately educated, began a career on the Stock Exchange, but soon retired to a house which he had bought at

Boldre Boldre is a village and civil parish in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is in the south of the New Forest National Park, above the broadening (estuary) of the Lymington River, two miles (3 km) north of Lymington. In the 2 ...

in Hampshire, taking up yachting, and later antiquarian researches.

Kidnapping in the Campagna

In January 1865 Möens took a holiday in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and on 15 May, while returning from

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

with a party including his wife, the Rev. John Cruger Murray Aynsley and Mrs. Aynsley, the two men were captured by a band of about 30 brigands near

Battipaglia Battipaglia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the province of Salerno, Campania, south-western Italy. Famed as a production place of buffalo mozzarella, Battipaglia is the economic hub of the Sele plain. History Formerly part of the ancien ...

: Möens had been photographing the temples. Aynsley was released next morning, to negotiate a ransom of £8000. Möens remained with the brigands for four months, taken over the mountains in bad conditions, and shot at by Italian soldiers. On 26 August he was released, after paying £5100.

Later life

Möens put the proceeds of his book about the kidnapping to building an infant school near Boldre. In 1867 he bought the estate of Tweed, also in Hampshire. Becoming interested himself in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

, he studied forest law, and fought several battles for the commoners' rights. He supported the

New Forest Pony The New Forest pony is one of the recognised mountain and moorland or native pony breeds of the British Isles. Height varies from around ; ponies of all heights should be strong, workmanlike, and of a good riding type. They are valued for hardi ...

Association and was a member of the Hampshire county council from its formation. Möens died suddenly at Tweed on 6 January 1904, and was buried at Boldre church. By his will he divided his library between the Hampshire county council and the French Protestant Hospital, Victoria Park, London.

Works

In January 1866 Möens published an account of his kidnapping, ''English Travellers and Italian Brigands''. A new edition was called for in May, and the book was translated into several languages. In 1869 he sailed his steam yacht Cicada from

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

up the River Rhine to

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...

, and by French canals to Paris and

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. After a similar trip in 1870, he published ''Through France and Belgium by River and Canal in the Steam Yacht Ytene'' (1871). Möens studied genealogy, especially that of Flemish families settled in England. In 1884 he edited ''The Baptismal, Marriage, and Burial Registers of the Dutch Church, Austin Friars''. In 1885 he was one of the 12 founders of the Huguenot Society of London, where he read the first paper on 13 May, on ''The Sources of Huguenot History'', and edited its early publications. He was elected a vice-president in 1888, and was president from 1899 to 1902. Becoming a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

in 1886, he was appointed a local secretary, and was a member of the Hampshire Field Club and Archæological Society. Möens edited also: * ''The Walloons and their Church at Norwich: their History and Registers, 1565–1832'', Lymington, 1887–8, with an historical introduction (which was reprinted separately with a new preface 1888; 150 copies). * ''Chronic. Hist. der Nederland, Oorlogen, Troublen'', 1888, an account of an anonymous work by Philip de St. Aldegonde, printed at Norwich in 1579 by Antony de Solemne, a Brabanter who came there in 1587 (reprinted from '' Archæologia'', li. 205). * ''Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences granted by the Bishop of Winchester, 1689 to 1837'' (Harleian Society Publications, vol. 34), 1893. * ''Registers of the French Church, Threadneedle St.'' (Huguenot Society), 1896. * ''Register of Baptisms in the Dutch Church at Colchester from 1645 to 1728'' (Huguenot Society), 1905. He published pamphlets on the working of the Allotment Acts in 1890, and on the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

in that year.

Family

Möens married on 3 August 1863 Anne, sixth daughter of Thomas Warlters, of Heathfield Park, Addington, but left no issue. They are the ancestral great-aunt and uncle of author David Charles Manners.

Notes