Born in Warrington, Lancashire, Wood trained as a stonemason. He was the son of James Wood who was a road surveyor for Warrington but had started his career as a stonemason.[2] His birth name was John Wood, and he added Warrington in circa 1865 to avoid confusion with a fellow artist of the same name.
From 1858 Wood attended the new Warrington School of Art (Warrington Collegiate Institute) in the evenings and he quickly achieved local recognition and patronage.[2] In 1865 Wood moved to Rome and established a highly successful practice, mainly focusing on portrait busts and sacred themes. In 1877 he was elected to the Guild of St Luke in Rome.[2] His 1881 marble bust of Lady Mary Enid Layard is in the collection of the British Museum in London.[3]
Wood died suddenly of complications of a heart condition at the Lion Hotel in Bridge Street, Warrington.[2]
