George William Wood

George William Wood (1781- October 1843)[1][2] was an English businessman, Member of Parliament and leading member of civil society in Manchester.

Life

George William Wood was born in Leeds, the son of William Wood, a Unitarian minister who was Joseph Priestley's successor at the Mill Hill Chapel, amateur botanist and campaigner against the Test Acts. His mother was Louisa Ann née Oates, the daughter of a wealthy Leeds family.[3]

Wood moved to Manchester around 1801 and became a prominent businessman there but, as a memorial in the Upper Brook Street Chapel cited, "having early in life engaged in commercial pursuits ... he quitted [sic] the pursuits of wealth for the nobler objects of public usefulness."[4] He was member of parliament for Lancashire South from 1832 to 1835,[1] and for Kendal from 1837 until his death.[2] He was a prime mover in the establishment of both the Royal Manchester Institution and the Manchester Mechanics' Institute,[4] and was one of the two inaugural vice-presidents of the Manchester Athenaeum.[5]

He died suddenly of a stroke at a meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.[6]

Honours and offices

References

  1. 1 2 Rayment, L. (2006). "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with 'L'". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  2. 1 2 Rayment, L. (2007). "The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with 'K'". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  3. ↑ Wykes (2004)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Kargon (1977) p.19
  5. ↑ Kargon (1977) p.171
  6. ↑ The Times, 7 October 1843

Bibliography

  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
  • Kargon, R. H. (1977). Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-1969-5.
  • Wykes, D. L. (2004) "Wood, William (1745–1808)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 16 Aug 2007 (subscription required)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for South Lancashire
1832 – 1835
With: Viscount Molyneux		 Succeeded by
Lord Francis Egerton
Richard Bootle Wilbraham
Preceded by
John Foster-Barham		 Member of Parliament for Kendal
1837 – 1843		 Succeeded by
Henry Warburton
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