The Wood Family of Melton Hall

Richard Wood, a solicitor from London, purchased Melton Hall when he married Jane Searles on 16th October 1752 in St Andrew’s Church (now Melton Old Church). He then went on to set up Wood and Barham Solicitors in Woodbridge, a practice that lasted into the 20th Century.

Richard died in 1806 and his son, John, inherited the house and became the senior partner in the law firm. The property and business were handed down through a further two generations to John Richard Wood who married Frances Woodhouse in 1847. Together, they had a family of thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. Their sons Francis and Ernest maintained the family tradition and both trained as solicitors, Francis working in Woodbridge and Ernest in London. Sons Arthur and Walter became a doctor and engineer respectively and their youngest son, Lewis, a professional soldier. Their mother, Frances, continued to live in the Hall after the death of their father, John. When she died in 1909, the family rented the Hall to the Villiers family, who lived there throughout the war years.

Eventually, Melton Hall passed to Ernest Wood, who took up residence there with his wife, Katherine, in the early 1920s. Ernest and Kathleen were living in Melton Cottage, East Bergholt, for the duration of the First World War and it was there they brought up their five sons, four of whom served in the Great War; Richard Poingdestre, Geoffrey Dayrell, Robert Basil, and John Ironside Wood.

Their youngest son, Ernest Charles Anthony (known as Anthony), was born too late to serve in the First World War. He did, however, become a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War. Anthony was posted to the Wheeled Vehicle Experimental Establishment at Chertsey in Surrey. He then became the Rector of St Mary's Church, Ifield in Kent.

Lewis Ironside Wood

Richard Poingdestre Wood MC

Geoffrey Dayrell Wood

Robert Basil Wood

John Ironside Wood