Walter Wood (1812 - 1882)

Born 31 Oct 1812 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ancestors

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Biography

Walter was born in 1812. He is the son of James Wood and Mary Wood.

He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy (1825-26).^[1]

He then went to Edinburgh University and graduated MA in 1832. He went into the ministry and was licensed by the Presbytery of St. Andrews in 1836. He was presented by Queen Victoria and ordained in 1838, having a new church built in the same year.

In the Disruption of 1843, he signed the Deed of Demission and was declared no longer a minister of the Established Church on 20th June 1843. He was admitted to the Free Church, Elie on 20th March 1845 and remained minister there until his death in 1882. The church was later known as the Wood Memorial Free Church.^[2]

In 1845, he married Agnes Scott, daughter of George Scott of Jedburgh and in 1878 he married for a second time, Margaret C. Broadfoot.

He published widely, including a seminal work on the East Neuk of Fife.^[3] Publications include:

• Pastoral Address to the Parishioners (1843)
• What is Tradition Worth? a Sermon (1844)
• A Vast Difference (1845)
• Memoir of Walter Pringle of Greenknow (1847)
• The Last Things (1851)
• Letter to the Rev. Wm. Blatch on Baptismal Regeneration (1851)
• The East Neuk of Fife (1862)
• Reply to Bishop Wordsworth's Charges, 1865 and 1866 (1871?)
• “The Bible”, an examination of the article under that title in the Encylopaedia Britannica (1880)

Further details of his publications are available on a Free Church of Scotland website here.

He died on 6th March 1882.

Research Notes

His record in the Edinburgh Academy Register reads as follows: WOOD, Walter, 1825-6. Cl. 5-7. b. 31 Oct. 1812 ; s. of Dr. James Wood, 19 Royal Circus.
M.A. Edin. Univ. 1832 ; of Grangehill licensed by the Presb. of St. Andrews, 1836 ; presented by Queen Victoria and ordained, 1838 ; had a new church built same year ; on joining the Free Secession and signing the Deed of Demission he was declared no longer a minister of the E. Ch., 20 June 1843 ; admitted to the F. Ch., Elie, 20 March 1845, of which he remained min. till his death. Publications : Pastoral Address to the Parishioners, 1843 ; What is Tradition Worth? a Sermon, 1844 ; A Vast Difference, 1845 ; Memoir of Walter Pringle of Greenknow, 1847 ; The Last Things, and Letter to the Rev. Wm. Blatch on Baptismal Regeneration, 1851 ; The East Neuk of Fife, 1862 ; Reply to Bishop Wordsworth's Charges, 1865 and 1866, Edin. 1866. m. (i) 1845 Agnes, dau. of George Scott, Jedburgh; (2) 1878 Margaret C. Brodfoot d. 6 March 1882.

Second wife's surname, Brodfoot, is unusual but they are elsewhere recorded as associated with Broadfoots.

Sources

1. ↑ The Edinburgh Academical Club. The Edinburgh Academy Register 1824-1914, Edinburgh: T & A Constable, 1914. Page 9.
2. ↑ https://canmore.org.uk/site/162066/elie-wood-memorial-free-church
3. ↑ Wood, Walter. The east Neuk of Fife, its history and antiquities, geology, botany, and natural history in general. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd. 1862

• https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/13518807:60143?ssrc=pt&tid=109684862&pid=220076151638