Background
His father had been a Lord Mayor of London, and was a Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for 36 years.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
His father had been a Lord Mayor of London, and was a Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for 36 years.
He sat in the House of Commons from 1861 to 1863. At the selection meeting in the London Tavern on 18 July, one person favoured inviting the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Ewart Gladstone, to be their candidate, but the others preferred Wood. In foreign policy, he pledged to follow the principles of Lord John Russell when Foreign Secretary, and said that while it was Britain"s duty to express a "lively sympathy for the efforts of other nations to secure their civil and religious liberty", they should abstain "from all interfence with the development of the national will".
He asserted that his own personal interests in the commercial of affairs of the city would ensure that he gave them due attention, and that his experience was that in business matters public and private interests were "identical".
Finally, he asked the electors not to vote for him on any grounds other than that his opinions coincided with theirs. The election began as a personal contest between two prominent figures in the City, but developed into a vigorous contest of political principles.
Nominations took place at a hustings in the London Guildhall on 29 July, with polling on 30 July 1861. Cubitt had a significant lead amongst the city"s Liverymen, but that was not enough to offset Wood"s lead amongst the householders.
Wood died in office less than two years later, on 17 May 1863, at his home North Crayplace in Kent.
He had an inflammation of both lungs, accompanied by pleurisy.
18th United Kingdom Parliament]
Wood was a merchant in the City of London, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, of which he was a warden by 1861. When the Lord John Russell, the Liberal Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the City of London, was elevated to the peerage as Earl Russell, Wood was chosen as the Liberal candidate for the resulting by-election.