linwoodcemetery.org.nz

Also buried with wife Anna Maria (1826 /27 -1919) and William Wood, Merchant, (1859-1921)

W. D. Wood was one of six sons of Eliza and Robert Wood of Suffolk, England.  His father was a miller and operated a mill in Great Blakenham .  Wood emigrated to New Zealand in 1850 on the Randolph, one of the first four Canterbury Association Ships.  He undertook a number of ventures when he first arrived including a pastoral venture with William Chisnall – they owned land, the ‘Sandhills Run’ which stretched from the Estuary to the Styx River.  Wood is most well known for establishing Wood’s Flour Mill – the first mill, a large windmill in Antigua Street began operation in 1856 and the Addington Mill was built in 1891 and operated until 1970.  It still stands today as an Addington landmark.

W. D Wood maried Anna Maria Wilson, the youngest of five children of Mr and Mrs T Wilson of Hadleigh, England in August 1855.  Wood returned with Anna to New Zealand in March 1856.  They had seven sons and one daughter. (Linwood Cemetery Conservation Plan, October 2006)