Transcript

of

Richard Henry Wood [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. XXXII, (1900), pp. 44-45.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.).

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1908 Newton Abbot meeting. Evidence of Mr Wood’s extraordinary philanthropy is provided by the Rugby Local History Research group at its website. As well as an extensive obituary and biography and a sermon delivered at his funeral, the site provides copies of his will and that of his wife. The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Richard Henry Wood. Mr. Wood was born in 1819 of an old Lancashire family. His father, Charles Wood, served as an officer in the French wars, and afterwards for many years practised as a solicitor in Manchester. Associated in his early years with such men as James Crossley, F.S.A., James Hatton, Harrison Ainsworth, Dr. Ainsworth, and many other prominent literary characters of Lancashire and the North of England, Mr. R. H. Wood formed antiquarian, literary, and artistic tastes, which he cultivated assiduously to an advanced age. Nor was sport neglected. A "brush" in his library was one of his most treasured trophies, having been presented to him for being in at the death, when yet a boy, with a well-known Yorkshire pack. In his early days he was not unknown as an amateur jockey. A member of many learned societies, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Geographical Society, he was also prominent in local administration, on the Magisterial Bench, and in the Commission of Deputy-lieutenants for the counties of Warwick and Merioneth. Of the latter county he was High Sheriff in 1899, and during his shrievalty had the honour of receiving Queen Victoria, and on another occasion the Princess Beatrice. He acquired a splendid collection of chain mail, which he presented to the nation. He also possessed a fine library, containing many rare editions, and a unique collection of charters, besides many fine pictures. All that was old and honourable was of interest to him, yet he never lost touch with the people and with things of the present. Sidmouth, where he resided for the last twelve years of his life, owes much to his generosity. In Warwickshire his name, coupled with that of Mrs. Wood, is associated with works of great munificence and public utility. Rugby is indebted to them for the hospital of St. Cross. His fatal illness was caused through his travelling to Exeter, in inclement weather, when far from well, to present in person a gift of a thousand pounds to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital as a memorial to his deceased wife. Many other hospitals have benefited by his donations, and several churches in England and Wales owe their restorations as well as gifts of windows, fonts, and other church furniture, to his generosity. He became a member of the Devonshire Association in 1898, and the lavish manner in which he entertained the members during the visit of the Association to Sidmouth in 1903 will be long remembered. He married, in 1864, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Hatton, Esq., of Belle Vue, Hartford, Cheshire, who died in 1904. Mr. Wood died 26 April, 1908, and was buried at Daresbury, 1 May, 1908.