Alexander Wood (merchant)
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Alexander Wood (January 1772 – September 11, 1844) was a merchant and magistrate in Upper Canada, who was the center of a homophobic sex scandal in 1810.
Wood, who was born in Fretteresso, Scotland, moved to Upper Canada in 1793, settling in the town of York (now Toronto) four years later. Going into business with William Allan, he established himself as one of the city's leading merchants, gazetted lieutenant in the York militia in 1798, and was appointed a city magistrate in 1800.
In 1810, Wood caused a scandal when he investigated a rape case. The woman who filed the claim, known as "Miss Bailey", testified that she had scratched her assailant's penis during the attack, and to catch the culprit Wood personally inspected the suspects' genitals for injury. Several contradictory rumours existed about Wood's conduct during these inspections, and some even alleged that Wood fabricated the rape charge as an opportunity to fondle or seduce young men. To this day, the truth of what actually happened is unknown.
Rumour of the events circulated through York, and Wood became the subject of ridicule. He became widely known by the nickname "Molly Wood", "Molly" then being a derisive slang expression for a homosexual man. John Beverley Robinson called Wood the "Inspector General of private Accounts." Judge William Dummer Powell buried the potential sodomy charges against Wood, on condition that he leave Upper Canada; in October of 1810, Wood returned to Scotland.
By 1812, however, Wood was back in York, and resumed his prior appointment as a magistrate. He fought in the War of 1812, and was on the boards of several organizations. His life in York continued without incident until 1823, when Rev. John Strachan, a longtime friend of Wood's, recommended Wood for a position on the 1812 war claims commission. Powell was the appointing authority, and refused to appoint Wood on moral grounds because of the rape investigation. Wood sued Powell for defamation and won, but Powell refused to pay, and subsequently published a pamphlet attacking Wood even further.
Wood remained in York, and in 1827 he purchased 50 acres (0.2 km²) of land at Yonge and Carlton Streets, which became mockingly known as "Molly Wood's Bush". Wood finally returned to Scotland in 1842, and died there two years later. Despite the scandal, the newspaper obituaries paid tribute to Wood as one of York's most distinguished citizens.
[edit] Legacy
Wood's actual sexual orientation is unknown. Other than the rape investigation scandal, there is little public record of his sexual or romantic relationships.
However, the area once known as Molly Wood's Bush is now part of Toronto's Church and Wellesley gay village, and contains both an Alexander Street and a Wood Street. In 1994, playwrights John Wimbs and Christopher Richards launched a musical theater production, Molly Wood, based on Wood's life.
In 2005, the Church and Wellesley business association erected a statue of Wood in the neighbourhood, honouring him as a forefather of Toronto's modern gay community, despite his homosexuality only ever being alleged. The statue, by sculptor Del Newbigging, was unveiled on May 28, 2005. The $200,000 cost was shared by the business association and the City of Toronto. In the National Post, columnist Rachel Marsden criticized the statue as glorifying a "pervert" notable only for "abusing his authority". [1]
Also in 2005, the Church and Wellesley Business Improvement Association launched a beer named for Wood. Alexander Wood lager is brewed by Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery.
