Alexander Wood (died 1844) was a merchant and magistrate in Upper Canada, who was the center of a gay sex scandal in 1810.
Wood, who was born in Scotland, moved to Upper Canada in 1793, settling in the town of York (now Toronto) four years later. He established himself as one of the city's leading merchants, and was appointed a city magistrate in 1800. Unusually for his time, Wood's homosexuality was a fairly open secret which he made no special effort to hide. He was widely known by the nickname "Molly Wood", Molly being a slang expression for a gay man.
In 1810, Wood caused a scandal when he investigated a rape case. The woman who filed the claim testified that she had scratched her assailant's penis during the attack, and Wood personally inspected the suspects' genitals for injury. Several contradictory rumours existed about Wood's conduct during these inspections, and some even alleged that Wood fabricated the rape charge as an opportunity to fondle or seduce young men. To this day, the truth of what actually happened is unknown.
Judge William Dummer Powell buried the potential sodomy charges against Wood, on condition that he leave Upper Canada; in October of 1810, Wood returned to Scotland.
By 1812, however, Wood was back in York, and resumed his prior appointment as a magistrate. He fought in the War of 1812, and was on the boards of several organizations. His life in York continued without incident until 1823, when Rev. John Strachan recommended Wood for a position on the 1812 war claims commission. Powell was the appointing authority, and refused to appoint Wood on moral grounds because of the rape investigation. Wood sued Powell for defamation and won, but Powell refused to pay, and subsequently published a pamphlet attacking Wood even further.
Wood remained in York, and in 1827 he purchased 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land at Yonge and Carlton Streets, which became mockingly known as "Molly Wood's Bush". Wood finally returned to Scotland in 1842, and died there two years later. Despite the scandal, the newspaper obituaries paid tribute to Wood as one of York's most distinguished citizens.
The area once known as Molly Wood's Bush is now part of Toronto's Church and Wellesley gay village, and contains both an Alexander Street and a Wood Street. In 1994, playwrights John Wimbs and Christopher Richards launched a musical theater production, Molly Wood, based on Wood's life.
In 2004, the Church and Wellesley business association announced a plan to erect a statue of Wood in the neighbourhood, honouring him as a forefather of Toronto's modern gay community. The statue, by sculptor Del Newbigging , is scheduled to be unveiled in 2005. The $200,000 cost will be shared by the business association and the City of Toronto.
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Last updated: 05-29-2005 06:38:43
