Wood lived at his family seat of Bolling Hall in Yorkshire, and inherited his uncle's baronetcy on 9 July 1795, alongside his estates, which included Monk Bretton.

[Note 1] He used his relationship with Fitzwilliam to secure the parliamentary seat of Great Grimsby for his son Charles in 1826 at the cost of £4,000.

[5] Wood also advanced the political positions of others; in 1806 he supported the successful candidacy of Walter Fawkes for the seat of Yorkshire.

In the following year he similarly supported Fitzwilliam's son Milton in an election for the same seat, in which he defeated the incumbent Henry Lascelles by only 187 votes.

[4] In his spare time Wood was an avid sportsman, keeping hounds for hunting at Bolling Hall, and was also a vice-president of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.