Garnet Wood

The Honourable Garnet Wood
Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia
In office 22 May 1936 – 22 May 1950
Preceded by	Herbert Yelland
Succeeded by	None (abolished)
Constituency	East Province
In office 22 May 1950 – 3 January 1952
Preceded by	None (new seat)
Succeeded by	Leslie Diver
Constituency	Central Province
Personal details
Born	1 July 1888 Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
Died	3 January 1952 (aged 63) Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Country

Garnet Barrington Wood (1 July 1888 – 3 January 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a Country Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1936 until his death. He was a minister in the government of Ross McLarty.

Wood was born in Fremantle, Western Australia, to Mary Louisa (née Whitfield) and Barrington Clarke Wood. His father, who died when he was 15, was also a member of parliament and government minister. Wood attended Hale School, Perth, and after graduating worked for a period as an accountant for Western Australian Government Railways. He moved to Carrolup (in the Great Southern) in 1912, and later farmed at Narrogin and York. Wood was elected to the York Road Board in 1932, and would serve until 1951.^[1]

Prominent in agricultural circles, Wood was elected to the Legislative Council at the 1936 elections, defeating Herbert Yelland in East Province. He was re-elected in 1944, and in January 1948 was made an honorary minister in the ministry of Ross McLarty, with responsibility for agriculture and the North-West. Wood's constituency, East Province, was abolished at the 1950 Legislative Council elections, and he successfully transferred to Central Province. Later in the year, in October 1950, he was given a substantive position in the ministry, becoming Minister for Agriculture.^[1]

Wood died in office in January 1952, while attending a cabinet meeting in Perth, and was granted a state funeral.^[2] He had married twice, to Gillian Richardson in 1917 and to Eveline Parker in 1925, having two daughters by each marriage. His first wife was the daughter of Alexander Richardson, who was also an MP.^[1]

References

1. Garnet Barrington Wood – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
2. "STATE FUNERAL FOR MR. WOOD TODAY", The West Australian, 5 January 1952.