Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness PC, DL (5 October 1920 – 11 August 2002) was a British Conservative politician who held numerous ministerial positions from 1955 to 1974. He was distinctive in having lost both his legs in action in North Africa during World War II.
Contents |
Wood was the younger son of Sir Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax and Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow. He was educated at St Cyprian's School Eastbourne, Eton College and New College, Oxford. He became honorary attaché at the British Embassy in Rome in 1940, and in 1941 he gained the rank of Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He fought in the Middle East between 1941 and 1943 and was severely wounded, losing both his legs in action. His elder brother Peter Wood was killed in action in Egypt in 1942.
Wood became MP for Bridlington in 1950 and held the seat until 1979. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Derick Heathcoat-Amory during his time successively as Minister of Pensions between 1951 and 1953, Minister of State at the Board of Trade between 1953 and 1954, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1954 and 1955. Wood was then Joint Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance between 1955 and 1958, at the Ministry of Labour between 1958 and 1959 and at the Ministry of Power between 1959 and 1963. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1959. He was Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1963 until the Conservative Party lost power in 1964. He was Minister of Overseas Development from 1970 to 1974 for the duration of the Heath Government.
Wood became Honorary Colonel of the Queen's Royal Rifles in 1962 and Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Green Jackets between 1967 and 1969. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of the East Riding, Yorkshire in 1967. He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Law (LL.D.) by Sheffield University in 1962, by Leeds University in 1978 and by Hull University in 1982. He was a director of Hargreaves Group between 1974 and 1986 and also a director of FJC Lilley & Company. After he retired as an MP, Wood was given a life peerage as Baron Holderness, of Bishop Wilton in the County of Humberside.
Wood married Diana Kellett, daughter of Colonel Edward Orlando Kellett, in 1947 and had a daughter and son.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Bridlington 1950–1979 |
Succeeded by John Townend |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Lord Mills |
Minister of Power 1959–1963 |
Succeeded by Frederick Erroll |
| Preceded by Niall Macpherson |
Minister of Pensions and National Insurance 1963–1964 |
Succeeded by Margaret Herbison |
| Preceded by Judith Hart |
Minister of/for Overseas Development 1970–1974 |
Succeeded by Judith Hart |
|
||||||||||||||