Experience the reenacted French character of the Marquis de Lafayette when he had been invited back to NJ in 1825 by President Monroe. During that trip he spent time with Joseph Bonaparte at Point Breeze!

Marquis de Lafayette (born September 6, 1757, Chavaniac, France—died May 20, 1834, Paris) was a French aristocrat who fought in the Continental Army with the American colonists against the British in the American Revolution. Later, he became one of the most powerful men in France during the first few years of the French Revolution and during the July Revolution of 1830.

Richard Moody was born in the town of Fleet in the county of Hampshire in southern England and spent his early childhood in Simon’s Town outside Cape Town in South Africa. After school in South Africa, he was a student at two boarding schools in England before attending Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth – the Royal Navy’s equivalent of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland.  After receiving his commission as a Naval Officer in the Royal Navy and serving in the Fishery Protection Squadron, he was appointed as Ocean Navigator and Meteorologist on the Royal Yacht Britannia for Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Tours of Fiji, New Zealand and Australia before receiving his Wings with the Royal Navy.

He flew as a pilot onboard two Royal Navy aircraft carriers operating in the Far East over a four year period with time also spent operating from shore bases in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Western Australia.  Richard was then sent to fly with the US Navy during the Vietnam era and was a member of the first staff of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in San Diego California. After a final two year aircraft carrier tour with the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic, he retired as a Lieutenant Commander RN after 15 years of service and 627 aircraft carrier deck landings of which 144 were at night. He then became an international airline pilot with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) flying to many countries throughout the world.

Taking early retirement from BOAC, Richard flew with St Lucia Airways in the Caribbean before working for two years in Industrial Distribution in Indiana. He was then hired as an International Aviation Reinsurance Broker in New York and worked in that industry for over 25 years for a number of Lloyd’s of London broking operations. He also continued flying as a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Reserve (Air) Branch for a further 12 years in NATO Exercises based in Denmark.

About 25 years ago, Richard Moody became an ardent peace activist and joined the Coalition for Peace Action in Princeton, New Jersey and has been a Quaker for over 20 years. He is now very active in the name of Peace worldwide.  He is an ardent preservationist and historian and led historical walking tours in both Cranbury and Princeton in New Jersey for their respective Historical Societies for many years. He also gives talks on many subjects, including New Jersey and the Revolutionary War, Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, Slavery and the Underground Railroad in New Jersey and on his life story.

He has also tutored geography, history and essay writing in the adult education program at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) and geography and history in HomeFront’s Hire Expectations program for those adults who have yet to obtain their New Jersey High School Diplomas.  Richard has lived in 5 countries – most recently in France for 10 months – and has visited over 130 countries overall. Richard has dual nationality, British and American, and considers himself to be a Global Citizen. He is also the author of two books – “Flying through Life – From Fighter Pilot to Peace Activist” and “Here, There and Everywhere – A Potpourri of Past and Present”