1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Woods, Sir Albert

WOODS, SIR ALBERT (1816–1904), English herald, son of Sir William Woods, Garter king-of-arms from 1838 to his death in 1842, was born on the 16th of April 1816. In 1838 he became a member of the chapter of the Heralds' College, of which he was appointed registrar in 1866. In 1869 he was knighted and became Garter king-of-arms. In this capacity he was entrusted with many missions to convey the order to foreign sovereigns; he was also registrar from 1878 of the orders of the Star of India and of the Indian Empire; and from 1869 was king-of-arms of the order of St Michael and St George. He officiated at the coronations both of Queen Victoria and of King Edward VII., and his authority on questions of precedence was unique. His later distinctions were K.C.B. (1897), K.C.M.G. (1899) and G.C.V.O. (1903). He died on the 7th of January 1904.