The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Wood, Harrie
Wood, Harrie, was born at Kensington, London, on Feb. 12th, 1831. He went to Victoria in 1854, and settled at Ballarat, where in 1858 he was appointed secretary to the Mining Board. In 1861 he introduced a scheme for the registration of mining titles, and was appointed District Mining Registrar with a view to initiate his new system which was approved by the Minister of Mines. Mr. Wood was one of the promoters of the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum, and the projector of the Ballarat School of Mines. When the Mining Department of New South Wales was established under the Mining Act of 1874, he was, in September of that year, appointed Under-Secretary, and still retains the post. He is the author of "Mines and Mineral Statistics of New South Wales," a work specially compiled for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.