Sir Mark Wood, 1st Baronet (16 March 1750 – 6 February 1829) was a British army officer and engineer. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Milborne Port Milborne Port is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,802. The parish includes the hamlets of Milborne Wick and Kingsbury Regis. The vil ...

, Gatton and

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

. He received a baronetcy on 3 October 1808. Mark Wood was the eldest son of Alexander Wood of Perth, descended from the family of the Woods of Largo, to the estates of which Alexander succeeded on the death of his cousin, John Wood, sometime governor of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. Mark became a cadet of the East India Company's army in 1770, and went to India with his brother George (afterwards a major-general of the Indian army and K.C.B.), who died in 1824. Another brother was Sir

James Athol Wood Sir James Athol Wood CB (1756 – July 1829), was an officer of the Royal Navy. After serving on merchant ships for the East India Company from a young age, he entered the Royal Navy in 1774. Wood served in the navy for almost his whole life, a ...

. He received his first commission on 7 July 1772, in the Bengal engineers, and rose to be colonel 26 February 1795. After a distinguished career in India, culminating in his appointment as surveyor-general in 1787 and chief engineer of Bengal in 1790, he returned to England on account of ill-health in 1793, and purchased

Piercefield House Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of, ...

on the banks of the Wye. Wood entered the House of Commons for

, Somerset, in 1794; he was returned for

in 1796, after a severe contest with Sir William Paxton. In 1795 he was brought into the king's service as a colonel, and in an audience he had that year with George III to present a model in ivory of Fort William, Calcutta, the king expressed to him a desire for the union of the East India Company and the royal services. In 1802 he was unsuccessful in a contest with Robert Hurst for the representation of Shaftesbury, and was in consequence returned for his pocket borough of Gatton, Surrey, the domain of which (Gatton Park) he had recently purchased. He was created a baronet on 3 October 1808. He continued to represent Gatton until the dissolution in 1818, when he retired from public life, having given a uniform support to the measures of Pitt and subsequently of Lord Liverpool. He died on 6 February 1829 at his house in Pall Mall, London and was buried on 13 February in Gatton church, where there is a tablet to his memory. By a relationship in India with a woman of colour (not formalised under English law) he had a daughter, Maria Wood,''The Times'' (London, England), 23 November 1831, p 3:"Rolls Court, Tuesday, Nov. 22:Blackwell v.Wood" who in 1798 married a Major James Blackwell."India, Marriages, 1792-1948 ," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FGV9-8LS : accessed 3 March 2015), James Blackwell and Maria Wood, 18 Dec 1798; citing Arnee, Madras, India, reference ; FHL microfilm 521,839. In 1797 under a deed of trust Wood secured £3,375 to his daughter on his death, and In 1809 provided her with a house in Calcutta. Wood married at Calcutta, on 17 May 1786, Rachel (died 1802), daughter of Robert Dashwood, and by her had two sons—Alexander (died 1805), cornet 11th dragoons; and Mark, who succeeded him and was also Member of Parliament for Gatton; he married, in 1833, Elizabeth Rachel, daughter of William Newton, but died in 1837, when the title became extinct. The estates passed to George, eldest son of Sir Mark's second brother, Sir George Wood.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Mark 1750 births 1829 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Wood, Sir Mark, 1st Baronet