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Robert Carr Woods (1816–1875), a native of Lincolnshire, England, is best known from his time in Singapore as first editor of The Straits Times, and subsequently as a lawyer.

Biography

Born in Burgh in England, Woods first published papers on meteorology (including description of a meteor storm in 1837) and was Registrar of the Meteorological Society of London.

He went to India in 1840 and edited the Bombay Courier.

In 1845, Woods moved on to Singapore and was founding editor of The Straits Times. In 1849, an article about James Brooke's anti-piracy activities was instrumental in encouraging Joseph Hume to raise questions in the British Parliament and, together with a petition from Singapore traders which he took round for signature in 1851, eventually culminated in an Inquiry held in Singapore in the autumn of 1854.

Having registered as a law agent in 1849, Woods went on to found Singapore's first law firm, Woods & Davidson, in 1861 The firm then became Rodyk & Davidson in 1877, and Dentons Rodyk in 2014.

References

1. The Late Mr. Justice Woods in Straits Observer (22 March, 1875)
2. Robert Carr Woods Sr. article in Singaporeinfopedia
3. "Meteorological Society entry at Scholarly Societies". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

• 1816 births
• 1875 deaths
• British newspaper editors
• 19th-century British journalists
• British male journalists
• 19th-century Singaporean lawyers
• 19th-century British male writers