John Dennistoun Wood was born at Dennistoun, the estate created by his father and father's business partner Phillip Russell, near Bothwell, Van Dieman's Land. He was educated at Edinburgh, and was called to the Bar in London, 1852. In 1853 he returned to Victoria and was called to the colonial Bar. He soon became a politician as well as barrister, and held ministerial positions from 1857. In 1870 he married, and moved to London, where he practised law for twenty years. In 1889 he returned to Victoria, and continued to practise there until in 1898 he retired to Tasmania to manage Dennistoun. When he died in 1914 he was the last survivor of the first Victorian parliament.
His publications included legal treatises and pamphlets on imperial federation.
Source : Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
