J. W. Dunbar (John Wedderburn Dunbar) Moodie

author

J. W. Dunbar (John Wedderburn Dunbar) Moodie

1797–1869

A soldier, settler, and writer, this early Canadian figure lived a life full of movement, hardship, and reinvention. His memoirs and travel writing offer a firsthand glimpse of colonial life in South Africa and Upper Canada.

2 Audiobooks

Memoirs of the Late War, Vol 2 (of 2) Comprising the Personal Narrative of Captain Cooke, of the 43rd Regiment Light Infantry; the History of the Campaign of 1809 in Portugal, by the Earl of Munster; and a Narrative of the Campaign of 1814 in Holland, by Lieut. T. W. D. Moodie, H. P. 21st Fusileers

Memoirs of the Late War, Vol 2 (of 2) Comprising the Personal Narrative of Captain Cooke, of the 43rd Regiment Light Infantry; the History of the Campaign of 1809 in Portugal, by the Earl of Munster; and a Narrative of the Campaign of 1814 in Holland, by Lieut. T. W. D. Moodie, H. P. 21st Fusileers

by Sir John Henry Cooke, J. W. Dunbar (John Wedderburn Dunbar) Moodie, Earl of George Augustus Frederick FitzClarence Munster

Memoirs of the Late War, Vol 1 (of 2) Comprising the Personal Narrative of Captain Cooke, of the 43rd Regiment Light Infantry; the History of the Campaign of 1809 in Portugal, by the Earl of Munster; and a Narrative of the Campaign of 1814 in Holland, by Lieut. T. W. D. Moodie, H. P. 21st Fusileers

Memoirs of the Late War, Vol 1 (of 2) Comprising the Personal Narrative of Captain Cooke, of the 43rd Regiment Light Infantry; the History of the Campaign of 1809 in Portugal, by the Earl of Munster; and a Narrative of the Campaign of 1814 in Holland, by Lieut. T. W. D. Moodie, H. P. 21st Fusileers

by Sir John Henry Cooke, J. W. Dunbar (John Wedderburn Dunbar) Moodie, Earl of George Augustus Frederick FitzClarence Munster

About the author

Born in the Orkney Islands in 1797, John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie served as a young officer in the British army during the Napoleonic era and was seriously wounded at Bergen op Zoom. After leaving military service, he spent time in South Africa, where he worked as a magistrate and later wrote about those years in Ten Years in South Africa.

In 1831 he married Susanna Strickland, who would become better known as the writer Susanna Moodie. The couple emigrated to Upper Canada in 1832 and faced the difficult realities of pioneer life. Moodie later worked as a civil servant and became the first sheriff of Hastings County, while also continuing to write.

He is remembered today both for his own books, including Scenes and Adventures as a Soldier and Settler During Half a Century, and for his place in a remarkable literary family. His life connects military history, immigration, and the everyday struggles of early settler Canada.