Robin Woods

The Rt. Rev. Robert Wilmer Woods, KCMG, KCVO, always called Robin Woods, (born 14 February 1914, died 20 October 1997) was an English Anglican divine, Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Worcester.

Background and education

Woods was the youngest son of the Right Reverend Edward Sydney Woods (died 11 January 1953), Bishop of Lichfield. His mother was Clemence Barclay (died 14 October 1952), a member of the family of Barclay of Higham.

He was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career

Woods was ordained a deacon of the Church of England in 1938 and a priest in 1939. He was asst Secretary of the Student Christian Movement between 1937 and 1942. His first clerical position was as curate at St Edmund the King, Lombard Street, London, 1938–1939, and at Hoddesdon, 1939-1942. During the Second World War, he served as a Chaplain to the Forces (1942–1946) and was mentioned in despatches in 1944.

After the war, he was given his first benefice as Vicar of South Wigston, Leicester, in 1946, then in 1951 went to Malaya as Archdeacon of Singapore and Vicar of St Andrew's Cathedral. In 1958 he returned to England to become Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rector of Tankersley. In 1962, he was appointed Dean of Windsor and Domestic Chaplain to H.M. the Queen and played an influential part in the education of Charles, Prince of Wales. It was his recommendation to send Charles to Trinity College, Cambridge, his own old college. While at Windsor, he also served also as Register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. In 1970, he became Bishop of Worcester and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour in the personal gift of the sovereign. He retired in 1981.

According to his obituary in The Times, Woods was the most successful Dean of Windsor in the twentieth century.

Other positions Woods held include:

Prelate of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
Prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George
Secretary of the Anglican-Methodist Commission for Unity, 1965–1974
Member of Council of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, from 1968
Member of the Public Schools Commission, 1968–1970
Governor of Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Visitor of Malvern College, 1970–1981
President and Chairman of Council of Queen's College, Birmingham, 1970–1985
Chairman of the Windsor Festival Company, 1969–1971
Chairman of the Churches Television Centre, 1969–79
Director of Christian Aid, 1969

Honours

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 1971
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1989
A judge of the Templeton Prize

Family

Woods married Henrietta ("Etta") Marian Wilson, in 1942, and they had two sons and three daughters. His widow died on 8 February 2005, at the age of 88. Through this marriage Woods became one of the wealthiest clergy in the Church of England.

Publications

Lord of All, Hear Our Prayer (ed.)
Robin Woods: an autobiography (1986) ISBN 978-0-334-02424-8

References

Who's Who 1993 (A. & C. Black, London, 1993) page 2063
Robin Woods: an autobiography by Robin Woods (SCM Press, 1986)
Telegraph wills.

Church of England titles
Preceded by Douglas Harrison	Archdeacon of Sheffield 1958–1962	Succeeded by Hayman Johnson
Preceded by Lewis Mervyn Charles-Edwards	Bishop of Worcester 1971–1982	Succeeded by Philip Goodrich

Deans of Windsor

Late Medieval	William Mugge Walter Almaly Thomas Butler Richard Kingston John Arundel Thomas Manning John Faux William Morland William Dudley Peter Courtenay Richard Beauchamp Thomas Danett William Bealey John Morgan Christopher Urswick

Early modern	Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Hobbs Nicholas West John Vesey John Clerk Richard Sampson William Franklyn Owen Oglethorpe Hugh Weston John Boxall George Carew William Day Robert Bennet Giles Thomson Anthony Maxey Marco Antonio de Dominis Henry Beaumont Matthew Wren Christopher Wren Edward Hyde Bruno Ryves John Durell Francis Turner Gregory Hascard Thomas Manningham John Robinson The Lord Willoughby de Broke Peniston Booth The Hon Frederick Keppel The Hon John Harley John Douglas The Hon James Cornwallis Charles Manners-Sutton

Late modern	Edward Legge Henry Hobart George Neville-Grenville Gerald Wellesley George Connor Randall Davidson Philip Eliot Albert Baillie Eric Hamilton Robin Woods Launcelot Fleming Michael Mann Patrick Mitchell David Conner

Bishops of Worcester

Early Medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald St Dunstan St Oswald Ealdwulf

High Medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred St Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard

Late Medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli

Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd

Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge

Archdeacons of Sheffield and of Sheffield and Rotherham

Sheffield	John Blakeney Henry Favell John Eyre Herbert Jones Charles Carre Russell Darbyshire Alfred Jarvis Alexander Doull Alfred Jarvis William Baker Douglas Harrison Robin Woods Hayman Johnson Michael Paton Stephen Lowe

Sheffield & Rotherham	Richard Blackburn Martyn Snow Malcolm Chamberlain

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