Alexander Wood was born in 1870 at Shalloch, Clochforbie, near Crudie in Aberdeenshire. He was the son of Jane Hay and Robert Wood, and lived at the Clochforbie croft of his grandparents Francis and Elspet Hay (along with his mother who never married) until he was about 20.
After graduating from Aberdeen University, Alex Wood (as he liked to be known) went on to Edinburgh Theological College and was ordained in 1895. After working as a curate in Forfar, he joined the Scottish Episcopalian Mission at Chandrapur District in India from 1898. During the First World War Alex Wood served as a Chaplain to the Forces and was awarded an OBE. In 1919 he was made Bishop of Chota Nagpur, and then in 1926 Bishop of Nagpur. He died in 1937 while visiting Shanghai.
His biography by Eyre Chatterton (his predecessor as Bishop of Nagpur), published in 1939, glosses over the circumstances of Alex’s birth, acknowledging that he grew up with his grandparents but claiming that his parents had died while he was young.
Greetings from a distant cousin in Kansas– I found this article tonight while doing some research on the descendants of my 4x great-grandparents, William Gauld and Susan Thomson. My 2x great-grandfather, Colin Gould (as he was known in the US) emigrated to the US in 1857, married a Norwegian woman, and raised a large family in Iowa. If my research is correct, he was a first cousin of Jane Hay, Alex Wood’s mother. I have seen a transcript of an 1897 letter from Jane to Colin in which she says that her mother “bid me tell you” that she has a grandson named Alexander Wood who is a minister at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Forfar and “she is very proud of this grandson.” That is most of what I knew about him before I saw your article, so it was fascinating and a great pleasure to read it. The letter I quoted from is poorly transcribed, but it has other family news (Stewart Donald is mentioned) and I would be happy to send you a copy if you are interested.
Dennis Highberger, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Hello Dennis. Great to have your contribution Jane Hay’s mother (Colin’s sister?) was Elspet Gould, born 1812?, died 22 April 1900. I would love to see a copy of Jane’s letter. Can you email it to me? gordon(at)walkerhill.org.uk
And we would be pleased to find out more about Colin Gould and his family. One of Stewart Donald’s sons (either George, born 1869, or Stewart, born 1872) appears to have emigrated to the US but I have not been able to find out anything about this. Perhaps they made contact?
Gordon
I have now found the marriage and death certificates for George Donald. He lived in Turriff until his death, so did not emigrate.
I had previously come across a reference to a Stewart Donald being conscripted in Oregan in 1918, but don’t have any details to link our Stewart to him.
Gordon– Thank you for your response, and I apologize for my delayed reply. I will try to get a copy of Jane Hay’s letter to you tomorrow. Colin’s father, James Gauld, was a sister of Elspet, so Jane Hay would have been his first cousin. My research indicates that the Stewart Donald that was the son of Stewart Donald and Susan Hay died in San Francisco in 1900. As far as I can tell, the Stewart Donald in Oregon was somebody else. More soon…
your American cousin
Dennis “Boog” Highberger