Page:A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices.djvu/285

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Wolfe — Worcester.
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1789, and elevated to the Chiefship of the King's Bench, and to the Peerage as Baron Kilwarden in 1798. He was an advocate of the Act of Union, and, on the passing of that measure, was made a Viscount and Peer of the United Kingdom. He met his death by violence in 1803, being murdered in his carriage whilst driving to Dublin Castle 23 July.


WOOD, Sir GEORGE.
Judge
1743—1824.

Admitted 16 November, 1765.

Eldest son of Rev. George Wood, Vicar of Roystone, Yorkshire. He was first articled to an attorney. Having been called to the Bar 16 June, 1775, he acquired a great reputation as a special pleader, and had amongst his pupils Edward Law, Thomas Erskine, and Charles Abbott (q.v.). In 1806 he was Reader at the Inn. He was engaged in many State prosecutions, and in 1807 was elevated to the Bench as a Baron of the Exchequer. He died 7 July, 1824, and was buried in the Temple Church. He wrote a treatise on the Tithe Laws, which was published alter his death (1832).


WOOD, ROBERT.
Traveller and Politician.
About 1717—1771.

Admitted 15 November, 1736.

Son and heir of the Rev, James Wood, S.T.P., of Summerhill, co. Meath. He was, according to Walpole, "an excellent classical" and travelling tutor, in which capacity, and subsequently, in company with John Bouverie and James Dawkins (q.v.), Oxford graduates, he visited Venice, Greece, and the East, In 1753 he published a work on The Ruins of Palmyra, and in 1757 a companion volume on The Ruins of Balbec, works of great value and beauty. In 1753 he accompanied the young Duke of Bridgewater on his grand tour, and in 1756 became Under-Secretary of State and in 1761 represented Brackley, in Northamptonshire, in Parliament. In office he conducted the proceedings against John Wilkes. He died at Putney 9 Sept. 1771.

He is now remembered chiefly by the above-named works and by a learned Essay on the Genius and Writings of Homer, with a Comparative View of the Ancient and Present State of the Troade, published in 1775.


WOODDESON, RICHARD.
Jurist.
1745—1823

Admitted 3 March, 1763.

Only son of Rev. Richard Wooddeson, master of Kingston Grammar School, where, and at Oxford, where he received the degree of D.C.L. in 1777, he was educated. On 24 Nov. 1769 he was called to the Bar, and in 1803 was appointed Reader at the Inn. In 1777 he was elected Lecturer on Moral Philosophy, and the following year Vinerian Professor of Law, and whilst holding the latter office published a work on The Elements of Jurisprudence (1783) and A Systematical View of the Laws of England, works still held in respect. He died in London 29 Oct. 1823, and was buried in the Temple Church.


WORCESTER, EARL OF. See SOMERSET, WILLIAM.


WORCESTER, MARQUESS OF. See SOMERSET, HENRY.