Carte-de-visite of Henry Moody (1805-1871)
Taken in the 1860s
The attractive countryside setting of this carte-de-visite is most appropriate for Winchester citizen Henry Moody, who had a keen interest in natural history.
He was born into a family of brewers but preferred local history to business, becoming curator of Winchester's first museum which opened in a schoolroom in Hyde in 1847, financed by public subscription. In 1851, taking advantage of legislation authorising municipal funding of museums, the City Corporation took over responsibility for the museum which was relocated to the former Governor's house of the old goal in Jewry Street. The building housed display rooms, a reading room and library as well as accommodation for the curator where Mr Moody lived until his death in 1871.
He worked indefatigably for the educational life of the area in general and the museum in particular for many years, opening the museum out of hours to oblige visitors, giving lectures, writing, and advising other provincial museums. Some of the city's most prized possessions including the moot horn and civic weights and measures appear in the 1853 catalogue which he produced, and Winchester's city museum was very highly regarded under his curatorship.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage.
