Preceded by Frederick Pirani Succeeded by David Buick Succeeded by Charles Dunk | Preceded by William Park Name William Wood Succeeded by Henry Haydon | |
Preceded by George Matthew Snelson | ||
William Thomas Wood (10 June 1854 – 10 June 1943) was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
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Early life and family
Born in Hobart, Tasmania, in June 1854, Wood was the son of Robert Wood and Charlotte Wood (née Watford). After leaving school he worked as a blacksmith for seven years, before moving to New Zealand. He lived first in Dunedin, working as a manager on the construction of the Port Chalmers–South railway. In 1875 he settled at Kumara on the West Coast, where he established a blacksmith's business. He married Ellen Jolly of Kumara in 1879, and the couple went on to have seven children. In March 1879, Wood moved to Palmerston North, setting up as a blacksmith there, and continuing in that business until it was taken over by his eldest son in 1900.
Local politics
Wood was active in local body politics. He was elected councillor on the Palmerston North Borough in 1884, 1885–1887, 1892–1895 and again in 1901. He was Mayor of Palmerston North from 1895 to 1899, and again from 1901 to 1903.
Member of Parliament
Wood was endorsed by Prime Minister Richard Seddon as the government candidate for the Palmerston (now Palmerston North) electorate in the 1899 general election, a measure by which Seddon demonstrated his opposition to Frederick Pirani. Pirani won the Palmerston electorate that year, but unsuccessfully contested the 1902 election in the Hutt electorate.
Wood won the Palmerston electorate in the 1902 general election, was re-elected in 1905, but in 1908 he was defeated by the Reform candidate David Buick.
He later retired to Australia and died in the Sydney suburb of Bondi on 10 June 1943, his 89th birthday. The funeral service was held at St Matthew's Anglican Church, and he was cremated at Northern Suburbs Crematorium.