Major Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood OBE, DL (19 July 1881''Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950''''London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930'' – 11 October 1949) was a Scottish

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician.

Background

He was the second son of James Wood of Cullen, Banffshire, and Christina McKenzie. He was educated at

Fordyce Academy Fordyce Academy, known until the mid-19th century as Fordyce School, and also sometimes called Smith's Academy, was a famous grammar school in the village of Fordyce, Banffshire, Scotland, founded about 1592, refounded in 1790, and closed in 19 ...

and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

. He was awarded the OBE in 1919. In 1924 he married Muriel Davis. He was a Deputy Lieutenant for

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1932.'WOOD, Major Sir Murdoch McKenzie', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Oct 201
accessed 22 April 2014
/ref>

Professional career

He received a

call to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1910. He was on the editorial staff of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

and was severely wounded. He later served with the administrative staff of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Political career

He was the unsuccessful Liberal Party parliamentary candidate for the Unionist seat of Ayr Burghs in 1918 where the intervention of a Labour Party candidate prevented what would otherwise have been a rare gain for the Liberals; He entered Parliament as

MP for Aberdeenshire Central at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in April 1919. This was a notable gain for the opposition Liberals against a Unionist candidate supported by the Coalition Government; He was comfortably re-elected at the following general election; Following re-union between Asquith and Lloyd George, he was comfortably re-elected at the next election; He served as the Scottish Liberal Whip from 1923–1924.The Times House of Commons, 1929 At the following general election, a Labour candidate intervened and split the anti-Unionist vote, which cost him his seat; He switched to contest

for the

1929 United Kingdom general election The 1929 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 30 May 1929 and resulted in a hung parliament. It stands as the fourth of six instances under the secret ballot, and the first of three under universal suffrage, in which a party ha ...

. He comfortably re-gained a seat the Liberals had lost in 1924; In 1931, following the formation of the National Government, he was returned unopposed at the general election as a supporter of the new administration. He was an unpaid Assistant Government

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 1931–1932. When the Liberal party left the National Government he continued in the role of Scottish Liberal Whip from 1932–1934. In 1935 he was defeated at Banffshire; He did not stand for parliament again.British parliamentary election results 1918–1949, Craig, F.W.S.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Murdoch McKenzie 1881 births 1949 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Deputy Lieutenants of Banffshire Gordon Highlanders officers Knights Bachelor Scottish Liberal Party MPs People educated at Fordyce Academy Royal Air Force officers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Officers of the Order of the British Empire UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935