Robert Wilmer Woods, (14 February 1914 – 20 October 1997), known as Robin Woods, was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Worcester from 1971 to 1982. He previously served as Archdeacon of Sheffield from 1958 to 1962, and as

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the dea ...

from 1962 to 1970.

Early life and education

Woods was the youngest son of the Right Reverend Edward Sydney Woods (1877–1953),

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 ...

, and Clemence Barclay. He was the brother 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, and Frank Woods, Archbishop of Melbourne, and a nephew of

Theodore Woods 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, where he remained until his death. Family and education ...

, who had served as Bishop of Winchester. He was educated at

The New Beacon , motto_translation = Give light out of darkness , established = , closed = , type = Preparatory School , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmas ...

, Gresham's School, Holt, 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. ...

Career

Ordained ministry

Woods was ordained a deacon of the Church of England in 1938 and a priest in 1939. He was Assistant Secretary of the Student Christian Movement between 1937 and 1942. His first clerical position was as curate at St Edmund the King, Lombard Street, London 1938–1939, and at

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

1939–1942.

Military service

Woods served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during

World War II 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 opposing ...

from 1942 to 1946. On 26 September 1942, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Chaplains' Department as a Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class (equivalent to captain). In November 1945, he was mentioned in dispatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy".

Post-war

After the war, he was given his first benefice as Vicar of

South Wigston South Wigston is a large village to the south of Leicester, England. It is outside the city boundary, forming part of the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire. The population of the ward rose slightly from 7,471 at the 2001 census to ...

, Leicester, in 1946, then in 1951 went to Malaya as Archdeacon of Singapore and Vicar of St Andrew's Cathedral. In 1958 he returned to England to become Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rector of Tankersley. In 1962, he was appointed

and Domestic Chaplain to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

and played an influential part in the education of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. It was his recommendation to send Charles to

, his own old college. While at Windsor, he also served as Registrar 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 ...

. In 1970, he became Bishop of Worcester and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour in the personal gift of the sovereign. He retired in 1981. Other positions Woods held include: *Prelate of the

Prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

*Secretary of the Anglican-Methodist Commission for Unity, 1965–1974 *Member of Council of the

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

, from 1968 *Member of the Public Schools Commission, 1968–1970 *Governor of

Haileybury and Imperial Service College Haileybury is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' public school in the Victorian era, it is now co-educational, enrol ...

* Visitor of Malvern College, 1970–1981 *President and Chairman of Council of

Queen's College, Birmingham Queen's College was a medical school in central Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham. It was founded by surgeon William Sands Cox in 1825 as The Birmingham Medical School, a residential college for medi ...

, 1970–1985 *Chairman of the Windsor Festival Company, 1969–1971 *Chairman of the Churches Television Centre, 1969–79 *Director of

Christian Aid Christian Aid is the relief and development agency of 41 Christian (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) churches in the UK and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster ...

, 1969

Later life and death

Worcester Cathedral UK 16052015 Bishop Robin Woods

His ashes are buried in the cloisters of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

. According to his obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', Woods was the most successful Dean of Windsor in the twentieth century.

Honours

*Knight Commander 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, or ...

, 1971 *Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1989 *A judge of the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

Family

Woods married Henrietta ("Etta") Marian Wilson, in 1942, and they had two sons and three daughters. His widow died on 8 February 2005, at the age of 88. Through this marriage Woods became one of the wealthiest clergymen in the Church of England.

In television

Woods was portrayed by Tim McMullan in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series ''The Crown'', although his appointment as Dean of Windsor appears to be set around the time of the first Moon landing in 1969.

Publications

*''Lord of All, Hear Our Prayer'' (ed.) *''Robin Woods: an autobiography'' (1986)

References

Sources

*''Who's Who 1993'' (A. & C. Black, London, 1993) p.2063 *''Robin Woods: an autobiography'' (SCM Press, 1986) *

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

wills {{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Robin 1914 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Church of England bishops Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Sheffield Archdeacons of Singapore Bishops of Worcester Burials at Worcester Cathedral Deans of Windsor Honorary Chaplains to the Queen Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers People educated at Gresham's School