William Wood

Place: Shrewsbury

Born: 1671

Death: 1730

Biography:

William Wood was an English hardware manufacturer, ironmaster, and mintmaster, born in Shrewsbury, England in 1671. He was the son of a silkweaver and married Margaret Molineaux in 1690. The couple raised 14 children in a large house in Wolverhampton, The Deanery. Wood entered into a partnership as a manufacturing ironmonger in Wolverhampton with his father-in-law, Richard Molineaux. He is notorious for receiving a contract to strike an issue of Irish coinage from 1722 to 1724, which was extremely unpopular in Ireland. He also struck the 'Rosa Americana' coins of British America during the same period. Wood's coinage was recalled and exported to the colonies of British America. In 1715, he formed a large partnership for the production and marketing of iron and steel in the Midlands and London, and became involved in several ironworks and foundries. He died in 1730.