Joseph Wood MVO (1841 – 19 June 1923) was an English clergyman and schoolmaster, headmaster successively of Leamington College,

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

, and

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, and while in London a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral. He was headmaster of his three schools for forty years and in retirement was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral.

Early life

Born in 1841, the second son of John Wood, gentleman, of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Wood was educated at Manchester Grammar School"The Rev. Joseph Wood, D. D." in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' dated 5 November 1898, p. 3 and matriculated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, on 13 April 1861, aged 18. He was an

exhibitioner An exhibition is a type of scholarship award or bursary. United Kingdom and Ireland At the universities of Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield, at some public schools, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a sma ...

from that year until 1865, when he graduated BA, and was then Fereday Fellow of St John's College until 1868. He married in 1868, which meant that he had to give up his college fellowship, as there was then a rule of celibacy for dons at Oxford, except for the heads of colleges, which was not lifted until 1877. Wood's younger brother Llewellyn Wood followed him to Oxford and also became a clergyman.

Career

In 1870, Wood secured his first headmastership, at Leamington College, a position he held for twenty years, to 1890. He was then appointed to take charge at Tonbridge, where he stayed until 1898, when he was chosen to succeed

James Welldon James Edward Cowell Welldon (25 April 1854 – 17 June 1937) was an English clergyman and scholar. He was Bishop of Calcutta from 1898 to 1902, Dean of Manchester from 1906 to 1918, and Dean of Durham from 1918 to 1933. Early life Welldon was ...

as Head Master of Harrow.''Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed & Official Classes'', Vol. 38 (Kelly's Directories, 1912), p. 1,838 ''

'' reported on the appointment "Dr Wood goes to Harrow with the reputation of an energetic and successful organiser... a brilliant scholar, an ardent patron of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

." As explained in Christopher Tyerman's history of Harrow School, Wood was a most unexpected choice, due to his age. Since the retirement of

Thomas Thackeray Thomas Thackeray (1693 – 25 August 1760) was a Church of England clergyman who taught at his old school, Eton College, and ended his career as Head Master of Harrow School. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD). Life Born in 1693, ...

in 1760, all headmasters of the school had been in their twenties or thirties when first appointed. Wood was already fifty-six and was twelve years older than the outgoing head, Welldon. He was left in the invidious position of trying to enforce a policy of compulsory retirement for all schoolmasters at the age of sixty, while himself continuing well beyond it, until he was sixty-eight. One of the unsuccessful candidates on the shortlist of 1898 was Lionel Ford, a young "coming man", who in the event was appointed to succeed Wood in 1910. When Wood retired, after twelve years at Harrow, he had been a headmaster for forty years. In 1902, Wood acquired a De Dion-Bouton car and wrote enthusiastically in its praise: "The car, it is a marvel. These last six days have travelled, with our fill of persons, 750 miles." In May 1908, he was quoted in '' Pearson's Weekly'' on the subject of boys and beer: "Long experience has convinced me that boys are better, healthier, stronger, more able to do work, either physical or mental, without beer than with it." Awarded the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1879, Wood took holy orders while he was at Tonbridge and was a prebendary of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, from 1907 to 1910, and then after he left Harrow was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral from 1911 until his death."WOOD the reverend Joseph of the Precinct of the Cathedral Rochester D.D. M.V.O. died 19 June 1923 at Margate"
in Probate Index for 1923 online. Retrieved 3 May 2019 In 1905, he was appointed a member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

."WOOD, Rev. Joseph, M.V.O. (4th Class, 1905) D.D., Head Master of Harrow School... b. 1841" in ''Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage'' (1908), p. 696

Private life

In 1868 Wood married Caroline S. Hughes, a daughter of W. S. P. Hughes, of Northwich Hall, Worcestershire, a solicitor in Worcester. Their first son, Charles, was born in 1869, and was later headmaster of

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

.WOOD , CECIL STRACHAN
at tonbridgeatwar. Retrieved 3 May 2019 A second son, John Barry Wood, later Political Secretary for India, was born in 1870. A third son, Cecil Strachan, born in 1872, died of wounds in France in December 1914. A fourth son, Frederick Joseph, born in 1877, was an officer of the

101st Grenadiers The 101st Grenadiers was a regiment of the British Indian Army. 1778–1878 The regiment was formed in 1778 after six grenadier companies (two companies each from the three battalions of the Bombay Army) were combined to form a composite battal ...

who saw active service in Palestine; a fifth, Edward Llewellyn Montague, born in 1878,Hughes-Hughes (1893), p. 265 joined a bank in India. Wood died on 19 June 1923 at

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, while he was a residentiary canon of Rochester.

Notes

External links

Joseph Wood
at National Portrait Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Joseph 1841 births 1923 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Head Masters of Harrow School Headmasters of Tonbridge School Doctors of Divinity Members of the Royal Victorian Order People educated at Manchester Grammar School