{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = The Honourable |name = Barrington Wood |honorific_suffix = |image = Barrinton Wood c1880 b6381250.png |caption = {{circa|1880}} |image_size = |office = Member of the Legislative Assembly<br/>of Western Australia |constituency = West Perth |term_start = 14 June 1894 |term_end = 24 April 1901 |predecessor = Timothy Quinlan |successor = George Leake |office2 = Member of the Legislative Council<br/>of Western Australia |constituency2 = Metropolitan-Suburban Province |term_start2 = 12 May 1902 |term_end2 = 24 August 1903 |predecessor2 = James Speed |successor2 = Zebina Lane |birth_date = {{Birth date|1850|5|9|df=yes}} |birth_place = Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia |death_date = {{Death date and age|1903|8|24|1850|5|9|df=yes}} |death_place = Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia }} '''Barrington Clarke Wood''' (9 May 1850 – 24 August 1903) was an Australian businessman and politician who served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia. A minister in the governments of Sir John Forrest and George Throssell, he was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1894 to 1901, and then a member of the Legislative Council from 1902 until his death.
Wood was born in Fremantle, Western Australia, to Ellen (née Woodward) and George Wood.<ref>{{citation |title=Index to Births, Marriages, and Deaths |id=Registration number 1458 (Fremantle District) |date=1850 |work=Western Australian Registry of Births, Marriages, and Deaths }}</ref> His father died when he was young, and his mother remarried in 1863 to Edward Newman, who was later elected to the Legislative Council. A merchant, Wood was elected to the Fremantle Town Council in 1875, and later served as Mayor of Fremantle from 1883 to 1885. In 1888, he moved to Perth, establishing his own auctioneering and land agency business.<ref name="bio">[https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/C09D669F2BB25466482577E50028A857?OpenDocument Barrington Clarke Wood] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 June 2016.</ref> He was elected to parliament at the 1894 general election, defeating the sitting member, Timothy Quinlan, and a future MP, Richard Haynes, in the seat of West Perth. Wood was re-elected at the 1897 election,<ref name="res">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=David|authorlink=David Black (historian)|last2=Prescott|first2=Valerie|title=Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth, [W.A.]|isbn=0730984095}}</ref> and in 1900 replaced Frederick Piesse as Commissioner for Railways and Director of Public Works in the government of Sir John Forrest. He continued on in those positions when George Throssell became premier in February 1901.<ref name="bio"/>
At the 1901 general election, Wood was defeated in West Perth by George Leake, who succeeded George Throssell as premier just over a month later. He attempted to re-enter parliament at the 1901 West Kimberley by-election, but lost to Sydney Pigott.<ref name="res"/> In 1902, Wood was elected to the Legislative Council, defeating James Speed in Metropolitan-Suburban Province. He served until his sudden death in August 1903, which occurred while on a holiday to Mandurah. He had been walking back to his lodgings from a day at the beach when he collapsed on the roadside (presumably due to heart failure), and his body was not found until the following morning.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37800131 "SUDDEN DEATH OF MR. B.C. WOOD, M.L.C."], ''The Western Mail'', 29 August 1903.</ref> Wood had married Mary Louisa Whitfield in 1879, with whom he had four children. One of his sons, Garnet Wood, was also a member of parliament, and also died in office.<ref name="bio"/>
==See also== *List of mayors of Fremantle
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-wa}} {{s-bef|before=Timothy Quinlan}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for West Perth|years=1894–1901}} {{s-aft|after=George Leake}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Frederick Piesse}} {{s-ttl|title=Commissioner for Railways|years=1900–1901}} {{s-aft|after=Joseph Holmes}} {{s-bef|before=Frederick Piesse}} {{s-ttl|title=Director of Public Works|years=1900–1901}} {{s-aft|after=Walter Kingsmill}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Barrington}} Category:1850 births Category:1903 deaths Category:Australian merchants Category:Mayors of Fremantle Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Category:People from Fremantle Category:19th-century Australian politicians Category:19th-century Australian businesspeople Category:City of Fremantle councillors