William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse
| William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 26 September 1887 London, England |
| Died | 27 April 1915 (aged 27) Merville, France |
| Buried at | Parnham House, Dorset |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch | Royal Flying Corps |
| Years of service | 1914–1915 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | No. 2 Squadron RFC |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
| Relations |
William Henry Rhodes-Moorhouse (son) William Barnard Rhodes (grandfather) William Sefton Moorhouse (uncle) |
William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse VC, born William Barnard Moorhouse, (26 September 1887 – 27 April 1915) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Rhodes-Moorhouse was the first airman to be awarded the VC.
Rhodes-Moorhouse was born at Rokeby, North Yorkshire. His mother Mary Ann Rhodes (born c 1850) was the daughter of William Barnard Rhodes and Otahi, a member of the Taranaki (Tuturu), Ngati Tama, Ngati Ruanui and Te Āti Awa Māori nations in the Wellington area of New Zealand. When Rhodes married Sarah King, the very young child Mary Anne was "gifted" (Whaangai) to the newlyweds. After his first wife died, Rhodes married Sarah Ann Moorhouse, the sister of William Sefton Moorhouse, a prominent Canterbury politician and settler. She adopted Mary Ann Rhodes.
Mary Anne's father had been a whaling captain who became a prominent Wellington settler, businessman and politician. On his death, Mary Anne Rhodes received a legacy which made her the richest woman in New Zealand.
She married her second stepmother’s younger brother, Edward Moorhouse, in Wellington in 1883. They moved to England and raised four children, including Rhodes-Moorhouse who went to Harrow School and (briefly) Trinity Hall, Cambridge which he left in 1909..
Rhodes-Moorhouse took private flying lessons and gained his pilot's certificate in that year. Besides designing aircraft he competed in aviation races and was the first to cross the English Channel, from Douai to Ashford, Kent, with two passengers, his wife and a London Evening News journalist, in a biplane.
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