Staffa near Fingal's Cave (seated figure who might be John Muir Wood)

John Muir Wood, (31 July 1805–25 June 1892) was a Scottish musician, piano maker,

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

and an early amateur photographer.

Early life

John Muir Wood was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 31 July 1805, the son of Andrew Wood and Jacobina Ferrier. Wood's father was a partner in the Edinburgh piano manufacturing and music publishing firm of Muir, Wood and Company, and later Wood, Small and Company. In 1799 his company won a royal warrant as "''Musical Instrument Makers of His Majesty''." Wood was named for his father's initial business partner, John Muir (d. 1818). His father's later business partner was George Small.

Music

Wood's interest in music likely stemmed from his father's profession as a piano manufacturer and music publisher in Edinburgh. As a youth in Edinburgh Wood received training as a pianist, eventually travelling to Paris and Vienna to continue his musical studies. In 1828 Wood returned to Edinburgh as a music teacher, later entering the family business. With his brothers, George (1812-1893) and Robert (1797-1871), he operated the piano and music publishing firm of Wood & Co. in Edinburgh. After relocating to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Wood established John Muir Wood & Co. on

Buchanan Street Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous shopping district with a generally more upmarket range of shops than the neighbouring streets: ...

. Wood's music businesses were quite successful and through his work he was involved in arranging many classical music concerts in Glasgow. One of those concerts was the visit of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

to Scotland in 1848, which Wood coordinated with London-based piano-manufacturer

James Shudi Broadwood James Shudi Broadwood (20 December 1772 – 8 August 1851) was a piano maker in Middlesex and a magistrate in Surrey. His son, Henry Fowler Broadwood (1811–1893), took control of the family piano-manufacturing business in 1836. He was also the ...

. In 1884, Wood edited a new edition of George Farquhar Graham's "''Songs of Scotland''".

Photography

Wood never pursued photography for profit. The focus of his photographs included individual portraits, group scenes, streetscapes, ruins and rural landscapes. He travelled to remote locations for his photography. Wood's knowledge of photography may date from his friendship in the 1840s with the

eye surgeon Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa, by an ophthalmologist or sometimes, an optometrist. Eye surgery is synonymous with ophthalmology. The eye is a very fragile organ, and requ ...

Dr. Jasper MacAldin, who shared his knowledge of

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. MacAldin was also a subject in several of Wood's portraits. In 1841, Wood toured the west of Scotland with

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

painter

James Eckford Lauder James Eckford Lauder (15 August 1811 in Edinburgh – 27 March 1869 in Edinburgh) was a notable mid- Victorian Scottish artist, famous for both portraits and historical pictures. Life and work A younger brother of artist Robert Scott Laud ...

(1811-1869). After settling in

, Wood took

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

s, as well as more traditional boats, to explore and photograph the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

Largs Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic. A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...

, Arran, the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent isl ...

and other Scottish locales. Wood produced his photographs using a

calotype Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limit the ability of this early process to record low co ...

process. He also experimented with the addition of various metals, such as copper,

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

, gold and

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

in an attempt to produce different color tones and more permanent images. Wood's collection of more than 900 images, believed by experts to be the first serious series of

pictures of Scotland, are part of the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. An

exhibit Exhibit may refer to: *Exhibit (legal), evidence in physical form brought before the court **Demonstrative evidence, exhibits and other physical forms of evidence used in court to demonstrate, show, depict, inform or teach relevant information to ...

of this collection was held at the

National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by Wi ...

in 2008. The collection is permanently held at the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

. A selection of Wood's photographs, entitled "''Photography of John Muir Wood''", by Sarah Stevenson, et al., was published in 1988.

Personal life

On 22 January 1851 in

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

, Scotland, John Muir Wood married Helen Kemlo Stephen. The couple raised a large family together. Muir Wood died at

Cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders P ...

(now

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

), Scotland on 25 June 1892. Wood's body was returned to Glasgow and was buried in the

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only ...

. Wikisource:Wood, John Muir (DNB00) John Muir Wood is the great-grandfather of Sir Alan Muir Wood (1921-2009), a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

known as the father of modern tunneling. Sir Alan and his son, Dr. Paul Muir Wood, were instrumental in donating John Muir Woods photographic images to the National Galleries of Scotland.

References

External links