Frank Theodore Woods (15 January 187427 February 1932) was a Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Peterborough from 1916 to 1923 before being translated to the

See of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enla ...

, where he remained until his death.

Family and education

He was the son of Frank Woods (a priest) and a grandson of the civil engineer

Edward Woods Edward Woods (July 5, 1903 – October 8, 1989) was an American actor. He is probably best known for his extensive role as Matt Doyle in ''The Public Enemy'' opposite James Cagney. Life and career Woods' parents were Mary Clark and Will ...

. His mother, Alice Fry, was a granddaughter of the prison reformer

Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...

. His brother Edward was

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Wes ...

from 1937 to 1953 and was the father of the photographer

Janet Woods Janet Stone born Janet Clemence Woods (1 December 1912 – 30 January 1998) was an English photographer and hostess. She had a 30-year relationship with Kenneth Clark and she expected to be his second wife. Her photos are in the National Portrait ...

, Samuel Woods, an archdeacon in New Zealand; Frank Woods, Archbishop of Melbourne; and Robin Woods, Bishop of Worcester. Theodore himself was educated at Marlborough College and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Ministry

He was made deacon on

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: th ...

1897 (13 June) at

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of ...

, and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

priest the following Trinity Sunday (5 June 1898) at Brighton Parish Church — both times by Ernest Wilberforce,

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

. After a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

he held incumbencies in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Brixton, Kersal, Bishop Auckland and Bradford. He was consecrated a bishop on St Matthew's Day 1916 (21 September), by Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, to serve as Bishop of Peterborough. While Bishop of Peterborough, Woods served as episcopal secretary for the 1920

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

. His appointment to Peterborough had come midway through the

First World War 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 ...

. The ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'' later described him thus, "He was an admirable war Bishop. His palace was turned into a hospital, and he showed both courage and understanding in facing war problems." He was keen not to have Germany humiliated in the peace process, writing that a just settlement was needed which the Germans themselves 'shall acknowledge to be just. We must take care to leave no open wounds.' However, the politicians chose to punish Germany, and many regard that 'open wound' as an origin of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He became a Doctor of Divinity; as Bishop of Winchester, Woods was Prelate of the

Most Noble Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

Politics and legacy

Woods was also enthusiastic about "

Votes for Women A vote is a formal method of choosing in an election. Vote(s) or The Vote may also refer to: Music *''V.O.T.E.'', an album by Chris Stamey and Yo La Tengo, 2004 *"Vote", a song by the Submarines from ''Declare a New State!'', 2006 Television * " ...

". He believed that "It may be that their entrance into the political arena will lead to a spring-cleaning of the whole political machine ... and that the whole outlook of political life will be ... more concerned with the nation's welfare as a whole." Women were enfranchised in 1918 in the UK and could vote in parliamentary elections, but they had to be at least 30 years of age. After Woods's death, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

wrote that "He was a true example of a manly Christian, a giant in stature and virile in character. He had been of special help to them all in applying Christianity to social questions ..."''The Times'' obituary, 29 February 1932

References

Works

Frank Theodore Woods and others, ''Lambeth and Reunion: An Interpretation of the Mind of the Lambeth Conference of 1920'' (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1921).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Theodore 1874 births 1932 deaths Bishops of Peterborough Bishops of Winchester 20th-century Church of England bishops People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge