Ralph James Woodford

Sir Ralph James Woodford
Engraving by Charles Turner made in 1829, after Woodford's death.
Born	1784
Died	17 May 1828
Occupation	Diplomat
Known for	Governor of Trinidad

Sir Ralph James Woodford, 2nd Baronet of Carleby, Lincolnshire (1784–17 May 1828), was the longest-serving Governor of Trinidad. Young and energetic, from 1813 he sought to bring order to Trinidad society and greatly improved the public infrastructure, especially in Port of Spain. At the same time, he institutionalised class and racial divisions and was not in favour of emancipation. His governorship was cut short by his death at sea.

Ralph James Woodford, born in 1784, was the son of the 1st Baronet of Carleby, the diplomat Sir Ralph Woodford, and Gertrude Reessen, of Dutch extraction.

Between 1809 and 1811 Woodford was in Madeira, caring for his invalid sister, Elizabeth. Their parents both died in 1810 and on his return he sought an appointment.

After declining the offer of the new post of Registrar of Slaves in Trinidad, Woodford secured the governorship of Trinidad under the patronage of Lord Bathurst, then Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Appointed on 31 October 1812, he succeeded Hector William Munro on 14 June 1813 on his arrival in Port of Spain.

Much of the capital had been destroyed in a major fire in 1808, and under Woodford's direction much of what is now the old centre of Port of Spain was redeveloped. In view of the recent fire, only stone buildings were permitted. Land was reclaimed to provide the first proper wharfage giving access to trading ships. He arranged the purchase of an abandoned sugar estate and laid it out as The Savannah for the people's recreation and as a cattle pasture. Purchasing also the nearby Hollandais Estate as his residence, he also established there botanical gardens and had ornamental trees planted in the town's main squares (including Brunswick Square, renamed Woodford Square in his honour). He had the streets paved, Both of the current cathedrals in Port of Spain have their origins in the churches he had built for the Anglican and Roman Catholic communities. In all, he oversaw the development of Port of Spain into an attractive town; in the words of Henry Coleridge in 1825: