ended when Robert decided to go to America, and youngest son, Edward, was still at school. The Wood family have always had dogs, and Thomas always took the current dog with him in his Land Rover when he went around the farms. He would stop and let the dog out at the farm gate, and the dog would then run after the Land Rover until he had finished the tour. One golden Labrador called Kim had a mind of his own and at harvest time, when the farm visits took longer, he would start to walk home on his own. Many times, Thomas picked up Kim in Swanley or got home to find that someone else had already given him a lift. He also took over his father’s British and Commonwealth stamp collection, but eventually stopped adding to the collection. Tam died in 1970 and four years later, Thomas and his mother Mollie sold one of the farms, Farningham Hill, and moved to Angmering, on the coast in West Sussex, having bought a house there called Little Birches. One of the reasons for choosing Angmering was that the family had rented a house there every summer for years, so the whole family knew and loved the area. Thomas continued to commute weekly to Sounds Lodge Farm, returning to Angmering at weekends, when he could attend parties, go swimming or watch motor racing or horse racing at Goodwood. A reluctant farmer, the love of Thomas’s life was gardening, and he was especially proud of the garden in Angmering. The family home, Sounds Lodge was set in 4½ acres, and over the years he planted many rare plants and trees, but even with two gardeners, it was a huge job maintaining it. He also loved sport and played tennis and badminton regularly; and in later years he took up golf and bowls. Thomas liked fast cars and was a
hoarder, which may explain why he had four Sunbeam Rapier cars at the same time. He also liked travelling visiting most of Europe, and then America once Robert had emigrated there. Scotland was probably his favourite holiday destination, and he sometimes went there twice a year. He kept visiting Scotland until quite late in his life, only stopping when his last friend in Scotland passed away. He was a keen photographer and all his holidays were recorded on many rolls of film. In later years he had to take care of his mother, who announced on her 80th birthday that she “did not want to be here anymore” but lived on for another thirteen years until she was 93. He then had to take care of his aunt Doris who lived at the end of the same road in Angmering, and she lived to be 97. He once said that he did not think the pair of them would last so long. He was renowned for what the family called his “zuzzies”. After lunch he would sit in an armchair and fall asleep instantly. At exactly 1.55pm he would wake up again and return to work. If he managed to get home for afternoon tea, he would grab another snooze then as well. In later years, Thomas and his brothers mainly kept in touch by telephone, speaking almost daily with Edward and a long phone call with Robert on Sundays. Thomas was a very generous person and loyal friend, who also had a good sense of humour. It appears that he had been ill for longer than he had admitted to his family and they are very grateful to those who helped get him through the last few months of his life. He is survived by his two brothers and their families. Youngest brother Edward sent a copy of the biographical notes used at Thomas’s funeral and this obituary is based on those.
History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating in 2003. He went on to be awarded an MPhil in Historical Studies, specialising in the history of intelligence. His MPhil dissertation was on ‘The construction of Parliamentary accountability for the British intelligence services, 1979-2001’. His first graduate job was as a Research Analyst at Screen Digest, before joining i-Level a year later as a Search Manager. Angus got a taste for working in Search, and three years later joined what is now Dentsu Aegis Media. Over the next six years, he quickly progressed through the ranks and was Head of Research and Development at the time of his death. Angus met his future wife, Vaila McClure, while they were both students, sharing a love of crosswords, cricket and travel. They married in 2010 and their son Harry was born in 2012. Angus died unexpectedly on 24th August 2015.
Vaila Wood contributed this obituary
Thomas James Wood [1942-45] 18.09.1928 – 19.06.2015
Thomas was the eldest of three sons of Tam and Mollie Wood, born in Crockenhill,
Kent. He was educated at Carn Brea school in Bromley and then Dulwich College where he was in Drake. After leaving Dulwich, he returned to Crockenhill to work on the family farms. In 1952, his father Tam suffered a serious stroke that left him bed-ridden for a long time, and Thomas then had to run not only the farms but also keep an eye on the engineering and contractors businesses. Any hopes he had of second son, Robert, helping him
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