John George Wood

John George Wood

John George Wood, or Rev J. G. Wood, (July 21, 1827–March 3, 1889), was a popular English writer on natural history.

Wood was born in London, son of surgeon John Freeman Wood and Juliana Lisetta, and educated at home, at Ashbourne grammar school and Merton College, Oxford (B.A., 1848, M.A., 1851); also at Christ Church, where he worked for some time in the anatomical museum under Sir Henry Acland. In 1852 he became curate of the parish of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and in 1854 was ordained priest; he also took up the post of chaplain to the Boatmen's Floating Chapel at Oxford. Among other benefices which he held was for a time chaplain to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1878 Wood settled in Upper Norwood, where he lived until his death.

In 1854, he gave up his curacy to devote himself for a time to literary work. In 1858 he accepted a readership at Christ Church, Newgate Street, and he was assistant-chaplain to St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, from 1856 until 1862. Between 1868 and 1876 he held the office of precentor to the Canterbury Diocesan Choral Union. After 1876 he devoted himself to the production of books and to delivering in all parts of the country lectures on zoology, which he illustrated by drawing on a black-board or on large sheets of white paper with coloured crayons. These "sketch lectures," as he called them, were very popular, and made his name widely known both in Great Britain and in the United States.

Wood gave occasional lectures from 1856. In 1879, however, he began lecturing as a second profession, and continued to lecture steadily until 1888 both in the United Kingdom and abroad. He delivered the Lowell Lectures in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1883-4.

He was a very prolific writer on natural history, though rather as a populariser than as a scientific investigator, and was in this way very successful. For example, his book "Common objects of the country" sold 100,000 copies in a week. Among his numerous works may be mentioned "Illustrated Natural History" (1853), "Animal Traits and Characteristics" (1860), "Common Objects of the Sea Shore" (1857), "Out of Doors" (1874), "Field Naturalist's Handbook" (with T. Wood) (1879-80), books on gymnastics, sport, etc., and an edition of White's "Selborne". He was also editor of "The Boys Own Magazine".

He died at Coventry on the 3rd of March 1889.

References

*A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature
*1911

External links

* [http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/library/wood.html Whipple Library, Cambridge University]


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