Records of Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness

Papers of Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness, comprising records relating to his childhood and family; his political career and public life; and his draft memoirs, 1765 - c 2007.

Richard Frederick Wood was born on 5 October 1920, the youngest son of Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, and his wife Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow, daughter of the 4th Earl of Onslow.
Educated at St Cyprian’s School at Eastbourne and then at Eton College, Wood’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at New College, Oxford, was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1940 he joined the British Embassy in Rome as an honorary attaché, serving in Rome for only a few months before he enlisted in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
In 1941 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and sent to North Africa. Wood was in active service in Africa and the Middle East until December 1942 when he was severely wounded, losing both his legs. He was subsequently sent to the United States to be fitted with artificial limbs, his father Lord Halifax being then the British Ambassador in Washington. After the war Wood became a patron of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association and from 1987-1991 he would chair the Disablement Services Authority which worked to improve services for those with artificial limbs.
In 1945 Wood returned to Oxford to resume his degree and in 1947 he married Diana Kellett, who he had met at the home of his sister Lady Feversham. The couple settled at Flat Top House in Bishop Wilton, Yorkshire. Their daughter Emma was born in 1949 and their son Edward in 1951.
Politically conservative, Wood became director of the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Ltd in 1950, the same year that he was elected Conservative MP for Bridlington in Yorkshire, a seat he held until his retirement in 1979. After his election he rose quickly through the parliamentary ranks, serving successively as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Power from 1951 to 1953, the Minister of State at the Board of Trade from 1953 to 1954, and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1954 to 1955. He then served successively as Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance from 1955 to 1958 and to the Ministry of Labour from 1958 to 1959. In 1959 he was appointed to the Privy Council.
In 1959 he was given his first full ministerial appointment as Minister of Power, a post he held until 1963 when he became Minister of Pensions and National Insurance in the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home. The Conservative government lost power the following year and was not re-elected until 1970 when Wood was appointed Minister of Overseas Development by Prime Minister Edward Heath, a post he held until 1974. During this time he was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the Queen’s Royal Rifles and Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Green Jackets.
He retired from the House of Commons in 1979 and was given a Life Peerage by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, taking a seat in the House of Lords that same year. He chose the title of Baron Holderness of Bishop Wilton, taken from an area of his Bridlington constituency and from an extinct title in his wife’s family. In the Lords Wood proved a strong opponent of women’s ordination in the Church of England, but the defeat of his negative amendment to the 1993 Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure ultimately paved the way for Anglican women priests.
Following his retirement he remained active in local affairs, serving on the regional board of Lloyd’s Bank and as a director of the Hargreaves Group.
He died on 11 August 2002, at the age of 81.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 2013 by Lady Holderness.

Richard Frederick Wood was born on 5 October 1920, the youngest son of Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, and his wife Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow, daughter of the 4th Earl of Onslow.
Educated at St Cyprian’s School at Eastbourne and then at Eton College, Wood’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at New College, Oxford, was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1940 he joined the British Embassy in Rome as an honorary attaché, serving in Rome for only a few months before he enlisted in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
In 1941 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and sent to North Africa. Wood was in active service in Africa and the Middle East until December 1942 when he was severely wounded, losing both his legs. He was subsequently sent to the United States to be fitted with artificial limbs, his father Lord Halifax being then the British Ambassador in Washington. After the war Wood became a patron of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association and from 1987-1991 he would chair the Disablement Services Authority which worked to improve services for those with artificial limbs.
In 1945 Wood returned to Oxford to resume his degree and in 1947 he married Diana Kellett, who he had met at the home of his sister Lady Feversham. The couple settled at Flat Top House in Bishop Wilton, Yorkshire. Their daughter Emma was born in 1949 and their son Edward in 1951.
Politically conservative, Wood became director of the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Ltd in 1950, the same year that he was elected Conservative MP for Bridlington in Yorkshire, a seat he held until his retirement in 1979. After his election he rose quickly through the parliamentary ranks, serving successively as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Power from 1951 to 1953, the Minister of State at the Board of Trade from 1953 to 1954, and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1954 to 1955. He then served successively as Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance from 1955 to 1958 and to the Ministry of Labour from 1958 to 1959. In 1959 he was appointed to the Privy Council.
In 1959 he was given his first full ministerial appointment as Minister of Power, a post he held until 1963 when he became Minister of Pensions and National Insurance in the government of Sir Alec Douglas-Home. The Conservative government lost power the following year and was not re-elected until 1970 when Wood was appointed Minister of Overseas Development by Prime Minister Edward Heath, a post he held until 1974. During this time he was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the Queen’s Royal Rifles and Honorary Colonel of the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, Royal Green Jackets.
He retired from the House of Commons in 1979 and was given a Life Peerage by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, taking a seat in the House of Lords that same year. He chose the title of Baron Holderness of Bishop Wilton, taken from an area of his Bridlington constituency and from an extinct title in his wife’s family. In the Lords Wood proved a strong opponent of women’s ordination in the Church of England, but the defeat of his negative amendment to the 1993 Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure ultimately paved the way for Anglican women priests.
Following his retirement he remained active in local affairs, serving on the regional board of Lloyd’s Bank and as a director of the Hargreaves Group.
He died on 11 August 2002, at the age of 81.

Catalogued by Sally-Anne Shearn, September 2020.

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are not expected.

The family and estate papers of the Wood family, Earls of Halifax, are also deposited at the Borthwick, see 'Hickleton Papers' (Reference: HALIFAX).

Published

Full

Final

GB 193