George William Wood (21 July 1781 – 3 October 1843)
was an English businessman, Member of Parliament and leading member of civil society in Manchester.
Life
George William Wood was born in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, the son of William Wood (botanist), William Wood, a Unitarianism, Unitarian Minister (Christianity), minister who was Joseph Priestley's successor at the Mill Hill Chapel, amateur botanist and campaigner against the Test Acts. His mother was Louisa Ann ''née'' Oates, the daughter of a wealthy Leeds family.
[Wykes (2004)]
Wood moved to Manchester around 1801 and became a prominent businessman there but, as a memorial in the Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester, Upper Brook Street Chapel cited, "having early in life engaged in commercial pursuits ... he quitted the pursuits of wealth for the nobler objects of public usefulness."
He was member of parliament for Lancashire South (UK Parliament constituency), Lancashire South from 1832 to 1835,
and for Kendal (UK Parliament constituency), Kendal from 1837 until his death.
He was a prime mover in the establishment of both the Royal Manchester Institution and the Manchester Mechanics' Institute,
[Kargon (1977) ''p.''19] and was one of the two inaugural vice-presidents of the Manchester Athenaeum.
He died suddenly of a stroke at a meeting of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.
[''The Times'', 7 October 1843]
Honours and offices
*Fellow of the Linnaean Society;
*Fellow of the Geological Society;
*Vice-president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*Wykes, D. L. (2004)
Wood, William (1745–1808), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 16 August 2007 (subscription required)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, George William
1781 births
1843 deaths
English businesspeople
History of Manchester
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs 1837–1841
UK MPs 1841–1847
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
19th-century British businesspeople