Thomas Wood (1708–1799)

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Thomas Wood
Member of Parliament for Middlesex
In office
1779–1780
Serving with John Wilkes
Preceded byJohn Glynn
John Wilkes
Succeeded byJohn Wilkes
George Byng
Personal details
Born(1708-09-25)25 September 1708
Died25 June 1799(1799-06-25) (aged 90)
Political partyWhig
Spouse
Elizabeth Jones
(after 1743)
RelationsThomas Wood (grandson)
Children5
EducationEton College
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford

Thomas Wood FRS (25 September 1708 – 25 June 1799), was a British politician who briefly sat in the House of Commons from 1779 to 1780.[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Wood was born on 25 September 1708. The seventh son of Edward Wood and Elizabeth (née Bridger) Wood (daughter and heiress of Henry Bridger of Bramley, Surrey), he was from Littleton (then in Middlesex, now Surrey).[3][4]

He was educated at Eton College from 1718 to 1725 before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford in 1725 and All Souls College, Oxford in 1732.[1]

Career[edit]

A barrister, he was called in 1735, made a bencher in 1766, and later served as Treasurer of the Inner Temple where he had been admitted in 1729. In 1748, he succeeded to his brothers estates.[1] A member of the Whig party, he was Member of Parliament for Middlesex from 1779 to 1780.[2]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February 1761.[5]

Personal life[edit]

On 2 October 1743 Wood was married to Anne Jones, daughter of Richard Jones. Together, they were the parents of two sons and three daughters, including:[6]

Wood died on 25 June 1799.[1]

Descendants[edit]

Through his son Thomas, he was a grandfather of Thomas Wood (1777–1860), MP for Breconshire from 1806 to 1847; he married Lady Caroline Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry and Frances Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry (daughter of the Whig politician Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden).[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "WOOD, Thomas (1708–99), of Littleton, Mdx". History of Parliament. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)
  3. ^ Burke, John (1847). Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry, Volume 2. H. Colburn. p. 1627.
  4. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (1911) Subscribed Source on descendant Sir David Edward Wood, see Littleton
  5. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  6. ^ "WILLIAMS families, of Gwernyfed, in the parish of Glasbury, Brecknock". biography.wales. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  7. ^ Jones, Theophilus (1898). A History of the County of Brecknock: Containing the Chorography, General History, Religion, Laws, Customs, Manners, Language, and System of Agriculture Used in that County. E. Davies. p. 357. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  8. ^ "WOOD, Thomas (1777-1860), of Gwernyfed, Brec. and Littleton Park, nr. Staines, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Middlesex
1779–1780
With: John Wilkes
Succeeded by