29.     John Wood                                                                                 1840

 


John Wood was born c. 1780-85 based on his wife, Margaret Norris, whose age in the 1841 census was given as 55-59 and they married in Edinburgh on 27th September' 1811. In 1813 he was already working as a land surveyor of Greenhill, near Edinburgh. In 1818 he began the surveys of towns which led him to travelling extensively throughout the British Isles.

From 1819 to 1826 he published 50 plans of Scottish towns and in 1828 he issued the Town Atlas of Scotland, a volume of 48 Scottish town plans, along with a Companion containing descriptive text about each of the towns included. [1]

From 1826 Wood spent much, or most, of his time on plans of English and Welsh towns. In the first two years he surveyed northern towns including Scarborough and Whitby, and then moved south to do Boston and Newark in 1829, and Kings Lynn, Wisbech and North­ampton in 1830. His engravers seem to have been based in Edinburgh so it is surmised that he returned to Edinburgh every year to draw a fair copy of each plan.

For the next few years Wood moved southwards and westwards throughout England and Wales arriving in the westcountry about 1840 in which year he completed plans of Cardiff, Taunton, Tiverton and Exeter. Kingsbridge and Torquay (two different maps) followed in 1841. Plans of Launceston, Bideford, Tavistock, Teignmouth and Brixham are dated 1842, and plans of Barnstaple, Newton Abbot and Great Torrington, 1843.[2]

He seems to have returned to Edinburgh in 1842. By 1847 his health had given way and he died on 11th July 1847 at Portobello, a seaside suburb of Edinburgh. .

This is a plan of the City of Exeter from actual survey – in this case for the Exeter Improvement Commissioners – by Wood. It shows ward and parish boundaries and accompanies a valuation of houses and land made in 1838 by Rowe, Cornish & Hooper. The population figure included of 31,344 for Exeter is taken from Besley's Chronicle. Also indicated are the names of the owners of land surrounding the city's built-up areas. The map is detailed and almost certainly used by later map-makers, e.g. Besley and Warren's map (see 31). 

Title: A Plan of EXETER from an actual survey.

Size: 675 x 805 mm.

Signature:   John Wood, surveyor, 34, Paul Street, Exeter. 

Covering an area from St. Thomas to Polsloe Park and from Alphington Gate to Elliot Cottage the plan shows the higher and lower markets, Atwell's Almshouses and Victoria Park. Mount Radford and Clifton Road (Workhouse) are largely developed and Longbrook appears to be underground from the Iron Bridge to the Exe (this and the Shitbrook were partly covered in 1843). The buildings on the Great Shilhay include the Foundry replacing the woollen industry. The new roads have a slightly different alignment to previous maps.


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[1] All information on John Wood’s life is from: THE EARLY MAPS OF SCOTLAND To 1850 By A Committee of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society; Third Edition; Volume 2; Published by The Royal Scottish Geographical Society; Edited by D G Moir; Edinburgh; 1983. pages 282-283. 

[2] My thanks to Martin Ebdon (personal communication) for the list of Devon towns covered by John Wood.

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