Thomas Wood (1708–1799)
{{Short description|British Whig politician (1708–1799)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Thomas Wood
| honorific_suffix = FRS
| office = Member of Parliament for Middlesex
| term_start = 1779
| term_end = 1780
| predecessor = John Glynn
John Wilkes
| alongside = John Wilkes
| successor = John Wilkes
George Byng
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1708|09|25|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1799|06|25|1708|09|25|df=y}}
| education = Eton College
| alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
| party = Whig
| spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth Jones
|2 October 1743||reason=}}
| children = 5
| relations = Thomas Wood (grandson)
}}
Thomas Wood FRS (25 September 1708 – 25 June 1799), was a British politician who briefly sat in the House of Commons from 1779 to 1780.{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/wood-thomas-1708-99|title=WOOD, Thomas (1708–99), of Littleton, Mdx.|website=History of Parliament|access-date=13 June 2021}}{{Rayment-hc|M|2|date=March 2012}}
Early life
Wood was born on 25 September 1708. The seventh son of Edward Wood and Elizabeth ({{nee}} Bridger) Wood (daughter and heiress of Henry Bridger of Bramley, Surrey), he was from Littleton (then in Middlesex, now Surrey).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NEKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1627 |author=Burke, John|title=Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry, Volume 2|publisher=H. Colburn|year=1847|page=1627}}[http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/29/101029866/ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] (1911) Subscribed Source on descendant Sir David Edward Wood, see Littleton
He was educated at Eton College from 1718 to 1725 before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford in 1725 and All Souls College, Oxford in 1732.
Career
A barrister, he was called in 1735, made a bencher in 1766, and later served as Treasurer of the Inner Temple where he had been admitted in 1729. In 1748, he succeeded to his brothers estates. A member of the Whig party, he was Member of Parliament for Middlesex from 1779 to 1780.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February 1761.{{cite web | url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=9&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27wood%27%29 |title = Library and Archive Catalogue| publisher = Royal Society | accessdate= 1 November 2010}}
Personal life
On 2 October 1743 Wood was married to Anne Jones, daughter of Richard Jones. Together, they were the parents of two sons and three daughters, including:{{cite web |title=WILLIAMS families, of Gwernyfed, in the parish of Glasbury, Brecknock |url=https://biography.wales/article/s-WILL-GWE-1536 |website=biography.wales |publisher=Dictionary of Welsh Biography |access-date=6 January 2023}}
- Thomas Wood, who married Mary Williams (1752–1820), daughter and heiress of Sir Edward Williams, 5th Baronet, of Gwernyfed.{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Theophilus |title=A History of the County of Brecknock: Containing the Chorography, General History, Religion, Laws, Customs, Manners, Language, and System of Agriculture Used in that County |date=1898 |publisher=E. Davies |page=357 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zoc1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA357-IA1 |access-date=6 January 2023 |language=en}}
=Descendants=
Through his son Thomas, he was a grandfather of Thomas Wood (1777–1860), MP for Breconshire from 1806 to 1847; he married Lady Caroline Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry and Frances Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry (daughter of the Whig politician Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden).{{cite web|url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/wood-thomas-1777-1860|title= WOOD, Thomas (1777-1860), of Gwernyfed, Brec. and Littleton Park, nr. Staines, Mdx.|publisher= History of Parliament Online|accessdate = 2 July 2013}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
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{{succession box|before=John Glynn
John Wilkes|title=Member of Parliament for Middlesex |with= John Wilkes|years=1779–1780|after=John Wilkes
George Byng}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Thomas}}
Category:People from the Borough of Spelthorne
Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Category:British MPs 1774–1780
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
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