The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Wood, Hon. John Dennistoun
Wood, Hon. John Dennistoun, is the son of the late Captain Patrick Wood, of the East India Company's military service, and was born at Dennistoun, Tas., on July 4th, 1829. When eleven years of age he went to England to complete his education, and entered as a student at the Middle Temple in Nov. 1845, but was not called to the Bar till Jan. 1852. The next year Mr. Wood went out to Victoria and entered on the practice of his profession before the Supreme Court in Melbourne. In 1857 he was returned to the Legislative Assembly for the Ovens district, having previously, in March of that year, been appointed Solicitor-General in the first O'Shanassy Government, which, however, only held office till April 29th. In the Nicholson Administration Mr. Wood was Attorney-General from Oct. 1859 to Nov. 1860, and he was Minister of Justice in the third O'Shanassy Cabinet from Nov. 1861 to June 1863. Having been defeated for the Ovens, and subsequently for Gippsland, Mr. Wood ultimately secured his return for Warrnambool. Soon after his retirement, with his colleagues in the O'Shanassy Ministry, Mr. Wood left Victoria, and took up his residence in London, where he practised his profession mainly before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in colonial appeal cases. In 1889 he returned to Victoria, and resumed practice at the local Bar.