A GIFTED teacher and author, who was headmaster at Sandown High School for more than a decade, has died at 92.

The eldest of seven children, Bernard 'BJ' Moody, was born in Birmingham in 1927.

Mr Moody’s formative education was interrupted by the Second World War when he was evacuated to rural Gloucestershire during the blitz. He discovered passions for cycling, long-distance walking and an interest in wildlife.

He won a state scholarship to St John's College in Cambridge, where he gained a double first.

He went on to teach at Highgate and then Latymer Upper in London.

He met first wife, Rosemary, a gifted academic who had been a prize winner at Durham University and a teacher at the North London Collegiate School.

Mr Moody became one of the youngest headmasters in the country; first at Bristol Grammar School, then Preston Grammar School, and Maidstone Grammar School.

The publication of Mr Moody’s textbook in 1965 — Comparative Inorganic Chemistry — established him as a respected author in his field. The third edition of his book has only recently gone out of circulation.

Mr Moody was appointed chief examiner in his field, helping set the A-level syllabus and shaping the education of a generation of young scientists.

The couple had four children — Catherine, Sarah, Edward and Richard — with the family relocating to the Isle of Wight in 1973, when Mr Moody became headmaster of Sandown High School.

They settled in Niton Undercliff, where they were known for their contributions to the local community, including leading the county orchestra, and playing rugby for the county colts and Ventnor.

Rosemary died of cancer at the age of 51 in 1981.

Having been a headmaster for more than 30 years, as well as running the officer education programme at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Mr Moody took early retirement in 1987.

While on a ferry between Denmark and Germany, Mr Moody met his second wife Katharina. The couple married in Copenhagen in 1983 and lived outside Flensburg on the German border.

Mr Moody enjoyed painting, kite flying, and fly fishing.

Katharina died of cancer in 2017.

Later that year Mr Moody returned to the UK, settling at the Ardenlee Care Home in Dunoon, Scotland.

On December 16 he died at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Mr Moody is survived by his four children, four grandchildren, three stepsons and two step-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held at Kirn and Sandbank Parish Church in Dunoon on January 8.