John George Wood
John George Wood, or
Rev J. G. Wood, (July 21,
1827 - March 3,
1889), was a popular British
writer on
natural history.
Wood was born in
London, son of surgeon John Freeman Wood and Juliana Lisetta, and educated at home and at
Merton College,
Oxford (B.A. 1848, M.A. 1851), where he worked for some time in the anatomical museum. In 1852 he became curate of the parish of
St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and in 1854 was ordained priest. 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.
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.
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Whipple Library, Cambridge University
