Frederick Moth

Lieutenant General Frederick von Moth (1694 - 12 Aug 1746) was Governor-General of St. Thomas & St. John in the Danish West Indies from April, 1724 - May, 1727 then again from February 21, 1736 - April 13, 1744 and was also Governor of St. Croix from January 8, 1735 - May 15, 1747.

Frederick Moth’s great aunt was Sophie Amalie Moth Countess of Samsøe who's connection to King Christian V of Denmark raised the social status of the Moth family. Frederick’s father Sir Poul von Moth was a knight.

Frederick was born in Copenhagen but moved to St. Thomas where he started a family. He married Anna Elizabeth van Beverhoudt on 2 July 1722 on the island of St. Thomas. He had several children on the island over the following 17 years, one of whom was Margarethe Gjertrud who married Lucas Uytendale de Bretton in 1750. Frederick founded the town of Christiansted in 1733 after Denmark purchased St Croix from the French. He designed the town using Christiana (now Oslo) as a model. Frederick Moth was named first Danish Governor of the Danish West Indies & Guinea Company of Denmark on 12 November 1733. He also built the historic plantation site Estate Little Princess in Saint Croix, having acquired the land in 1738.