| Office | Member of Parliament for Southwark |
|---|---|
| Term start | 24 January 1840 |
| Term end | 13 August 1845 |
| Predecessor | Daniel Whittle Harvey John Humphery |
| Successor | William Molesworth John Humphery |
| Alongside | John Humphery |
| Birth date | 1787 |
| Death date | 13 August 1845 (aged 58) |
| Party | Whig |
Benjamin Wood (1787 – 13 August 1845)[1] was a British Whig politician.[2][3][4] He was Member of Parliament for Southwark from 24 January 1840 until his death in 1845
Life
Benjamin Wood was born in Tiverton, Devon, the son of William Wood (died 1809), a serge maker and a Dissenter. An older brother was Sir Matthew Wood, 1st Baronet (1768 – 1843)[5] also a Whig politician. Benjamin Wood was a partner with his brother in the hops-trading business, Wood, Field & Wood.[5]
Wood twice stood unsuccessfully in the Tiverton constituency as a Whig candidate. In both the 1832 general election and the 1833 Tiverton by-election he lost to Radicals. He stood in Kingston upon Hull in 1837.
Wood was elected as the Whig MP for Southwark at the by-election in 1840 caused by the resignation of Daniel Whittle Harvey. He held the seat until his death at Eltham Lodge in Kent in 1845.[4][6]
He is buried in Cressing in Essex.[7]
Family
In October 1815 in Kenwyn in Cornwall, he married Anna Maria Michell (1791–1889) daughter of Admiral Sampson Michell and sister of Admiral Frederick Thomas Michell and Charles Collier Michell.[8]
A dispute about his widow's will was a possible factor in the divorce of Katharine O'Shea () and the downfall of Charles Stewart Parnell
References
- ^ Rayment, Leigh (30 April 2018). "The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "S"". Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Southwark". Dublin Morning Register. 27 January 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 23 October 2018. – via British Newspaper Archive
- ^ "Southwark Election". Cambridge Independent Press. 25 January 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 23 October 2018. – via British Newspaper Archive
- ^ Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 70–72. Retrieved 23 October 2018. – via Google Books
- ^ "WOOD, Matthew (1768-1843), of 77 South Audley Street, Mdx. History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885. 1st ed. London: Macmillan Press. 1977. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
- ^ "Sir Benjamin WOOD, M.P. B. Est 1790 of Tiverton, Devon. England d. 13 Aug 1845 Eltham Lodge, Kent. England: Devon Mitchells"
- ^ Boase, George Clement (1890). Collectanea Cornubiensia: A Collection of Biographical and Topographical Notes Relating to the County of Cornwall. Netherton and Worth, Truro, for the author. p. 563. ISBN 978-0-598-93682-0.