Along the exterior of the Legislative Library are 14 statues of individuals who held prominence in the earlier history of the territory now known as British Columbia. One of those statues depicts Richard Clement Moody.
Richard Clement Moody was born on February 13, 1813, in St. Ann’s Garrison, Barbados. At age 14, Moody joined the Royal Military Academy in London, after which he served as second lieutenant in the British Royal Engineers. Moody’s service in the Royal Engineers soon landed him in the newly established Colony of British Columbia in 1858, serving as its Lieutenant Governor. One of Moody’s first contributions to British Columbia was his use of the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers to quell unruly American miners who entered the colony during the Fraser River goldrush.
Moody similarly had the Royal Engineers prepare the area surrounding Queensborough (later renamed to New Westminster) for future European settlement. He then ordered the Royal Engineers to construct a system of roads and bridges throughout the colony. The Columbia Detachment of the Royal Engineers were eventually disbanded in 1863 and Moody returned to England, leaving behind many employees of the detachment who chose to settle in the colony. In 1866, Moody received the rank of Major-General and retired. Richard Clement Moody died in March 1887, in Bournemouth, England, where he is buried.
