Anthony Wood (antiquary)
A prickly Oxford antiquary who dedicated his life to meticulously documenting the university's history, creating an indispensable but controversial record.
1632–1695 (age 63)·English antiquarian·Birthday: December 17
Biography
Anthony Wood lived and breathed Oxford. A lifelong resident of the city, this cantankerous scholar devoted his existence to compiling its history with a detective's obsession and a gossip's eye for detail. Working from his rooms in Oxford, surrounded by a growing mountain of manuscripts, charters, and notes, he produced his monumental 'History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford.' Wood was not a graceful writer, but he was a dogged researcher, preserving countless facts that would have otherwise been lost. His work made him enemies, as his sharp pen and frank assessments of contemporaries landed him in legal trouble for libel. His later life was marked by this conflict, but his legacy is the foundational archive he built—a deeply personal, richly textured, and utterly essential chronicle of 17th-century Oxford life, written by a man who could scarcely imagine living anywhere else.
#1 When Anthony Was Born
The biggest hits of 1632
Anthony's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1632Born
1637Started school
1645Became a teenager
1648Could drive
1650Could vote
1653Turned 21
1662Turned 30
1672Turned 40
1682Turned 50
1692Turned 60
1695Died at 63
Key Achievements
- Authored the foundational 'Historia et Antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis' (History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford).
- Compiled 'Athenae Oxonienses', a biographical dictionary of Oxford writers and bishops.
- Amassed an enormous personal collection of manuscripts and historical documents related to Oxford.
- His meticulous records preserved details of Oxford life during the English Civil War and Commonwealth.
Did You Know?
He was expelled from Oxford University in 1693 for libeling the late Earl of Clarendon in his writings.
He never married and lived almost his entire life within the parish of St. John the Baptist in Oxford.
He adopted the affectation 'Anthony à Wood' in imitation of older Latin forms.
His extensive papers were purchased after his death and are now in the Bodleian Library.
“Oxford's stones hold more truth than any book written about them.”
