John Philip Wood facts for kids
John Philp Wood (who died in 1838) was a Scottish historian and writer. He was known for studying old things and writing about people's lives.
His Life
John Philp Wood's family came from a place called Cramond, close to Edinburgh in Scotland. From a young age, John could not hear or speak. Despite this, he worked for many years as an "auditor of excise" in Scotland. This meant he helped check taxes and money for the government. He passed away in Edinburgh in December 1838. John was a good friend of the famous writer Walter Scott. Scott even called him 'honest John Wood'. John was also related by marriage to Robert Cadell, who was a business partner of Archibald Constable.
His Writings
John Philp Wood wrote several important books. In 1791, he published a book about the life of John Law. Law was a famous economist from Cramond. Wood updated this book in 1824, calling it Memoirs of the Life of John Law. This was a popular topic at the time because of a lot of business speculation.
In 1794, Wood created the first local history book for a Scottish area. It was called The Ancient and Modern State of the Parish of Cramond. His biggest project was editing the Peerage of Scotland. This was a very important book about the noble families of Scotland. It was originally written by Sir Robert Douglas. Wood's updated version was printed in 1813. He added many of his own notes and research to Douglas's work.
