William Woodward, Sr.

Infobox Person
name = William Woodward, Sr.


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = April 7, 1876cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Belair From the Beginning
publisher = City of Bowie Museums
year = 2005
location = Bowie, Maryland
pages = 118-128
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]
birth_place = New York, New York
death_date = September 25, 1953
death_place = New York, New York
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence = New York, New York
Collington, Maryland
Rhode Island
nationality = United States
education = Cutler
Groton
Harvard, B.A., Master's, Law
known_for = President of Hanover National Bank
Owner of Belair Mansion and Belair Stud
employer = Hanover National Bank
occupation = Banker
boards = Hanover National Bank
St. John's College
religion =
spouse = Elsie Ogden Cryder
children = Edith Woodward
Ethel Woodward
Elizabeth Woodward
Sarah Woodward
William Woodward, Jr.
parents = William Woodward
Sarah Abagail Rodman otheruses|William Woodward (disambiguation)

William Woodward, Sr. (April 7 1876 – September 25 1953) was an American banker and major owner and breeder in thoroughbred horse racing.__TOC__

Background

Born in New York City to William Woodward and Sarah Abagail Rodman, William comes from a prominent and wealthy Maryland family that dates back to colonial times.cite book
last =Warfield
first =Joshua Dorsey
title =The Founders of Anne Arundel And Howard Counties, Maryland
publisher =Kohn & Pollock
month= July | year= 1905
location =Baltimore, Maryland
pages =pages 123-125
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=vgINAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA208&dq=Samuel+Ogle#PPA123,M1
isbn = 0806379715] The family made their fortune in selling textiles to the Confederate government,cite book
last =Bowen
first =Edward L.
title =Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders
publisher =Eclipse Press
year= 2003
location =
pages =pages 73-76
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=k5tf46yLaxkC&pg=PA73&dq=William+Woodward,+Sr.&ei=mBxPR4-NHYbosQPvws35AQ&sig=DVnTOjQ9ObyD88HT4hqVxtly6-M#PPA74,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = 1581501021] and his father was the founder of the New York Cotton Exchange.

He studied Groton and at Harvard, graduating in 1898, and Harvard Law School in 1901.cite book
last =Heckman
first =Lucy
title =Damascus: Thoroughbred Legends
publisher =Eclipse Press
year= 2004
location =
pages =page 11
url =http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=William+Woodward,+Sr.&sig=1ZKTAuWB_WiK5ofZq0PByOx6XX4&id=0AvWoGAxSIsC#PPA11,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = 1581501110] In 1901, he was admitted to the bar.

Career

For the next two years Woodward lived in London, UK where he served as secretary to the United States ambassador to Britain, Joseph Choate. There, he joined with other members of the political and economic elite including King Edward VII, at fashionable events including thoroughbred horse races, the favorite pastime of English royalty and nobility.

Upon his return to New York in 1903, Woodward was made vice president of Hanover National Bank in New York City by his uncle, his uncle James T. Woodward who was then president of the bank. William Woodward Sr.'s father had helped James purchase a large portion of the bank years earlier before his death.Citation
title =James T. Woodward, The Banker, Is Dead
pages =1
year =1910
date= April 11, 1910
url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C04E1D81139E333A25752C1A9629C946196D6CF]

In 1903, William Woodward met Elsie Ogden Cryder at Saratoga, New York,cite book
last =Bowen
first =Edward L.
title =Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders
publisher =Eclipse Press
year= 2003
location =
pages =pages 73-76
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=k5tf46yLaxkC&pg=PA73&dq=William+Woodward,+Sr.&ei=mBxPR4-NHYbosQPvws35AQ&sig=DVnTOjQ9ObyD88HT4hqVxtly6-M#PPA74,M1
doi =
id =
isbn = 1581501021] and they were married at Grace Church in New York on October 24, 1904. [Citation
title =A Day's Weddings: Woodward Cryder
newspaper =New York Times
pages =9
year =1904
date= October 25, 1904
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06E5D8113DE633A25756C2A9669D946597D6CF] They had a son, William Woodward, Jr., and four daughters.

Following his uncle's death, William Woodward, Sr. became president of the bank in 1910, serving in that capacity until a 1929 merger when he was appointed chairman of the new corporate entity called Central Hanover Bank & Trust. William Woodward inherited a controlling interest in Hanover National Bank plus the historic Belair Mansion and Stud in Collington, Maryland.

Belair and Thorougbred Racing

Belair is a very historic estate where Colonial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle had brought the first thoroughbred horses imported to America from England in 1747.cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
title = A Chronicle of Belair
publisher =Bowie Heritage Committee
year= 1984
location =Bowie, Maryland
pages = pages 14-19
id =
LCCN = 85165028] James T. Woodward acquired it in 1898 for an undisclosed sum of money.cite book
last = Baltz
first = Shirley Vlasak
title = A Chronicle of Belair
publisher =Bowie Heritage Committee
year= 1984
location =Bowie, Maryland
pages = page 70-73
id =
LCCN = 85165028] William Woodward built the Belair Stud into the dominant breeding and thoroughbred horse racing operation in the United States during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

Horses bred by Belair won every major Stakes race in the U.S. including two Triple Crowns as well as the Epsom Oaks, St. Leger Stakes, 1,000 Guineas, and other important races in Britain. Woodward's accomplishments in horse racing led to him making the August 7, 1939 cover of Time magazine.

Woodward was elected to the United States Jockey Club in 1917 and served as its chairman from 1930 until 1950.

In 1950, Woodward was elected an honorary member of the British Jockey Club.

Legacy

He died in 1953, aged 77, leaving the estate to his son, William Woodward, Jr., whose untimely death a few years later in 1955 saw the end of Belair Stud.

Today the Belair Stable Museum in Bowie, Maryland highlights the work of William Woodward, Sr and others connected to the Belair Stud.

References

External links

* [http://www.horseracinghistory.co.uk/hrho/action/viewDocument?id=1276 A brief bio of William Woodward at the U.K. National Horseracing Museum]