Tod, Frederick William

Hackney, London; carver (b. 1879-d.1958)

Frederick William Tod was the son of Frederick Tod, a wood turner and his wife, Sarah, of Hackney. He was apprenticed to Messrs Trollope in London where he trained as a carver and was awarded a medal by the City and Guilds Institute for Technical Education. In 1902 he married Alice Maud Ryan and they had two sons, Reginal Frederick (b. 1904) and Arthur William (b. 1907). Few details of his working life in England are recorded, but he is known to have executed carvings at Hever Castle, Kent, in the manner of Grinling Gibbons. Tod’s skill in carving won him first prize at the London Exhibition of 1910. He was a member of the Woodcarvers’ Guild and a staunch trade unionist, a founder member of the Woodcarvers’ Union. In 1915 Tod emigrated with his family to Australia, where his arrival was announced in The Salon: ‘There has lately arrived in Sydney a wood-carver and modeller of ability, Mr. Fredk. W. Tod, an Englishman, well trained in his craft. There are not too many wood-carvers of ability in this part of the Commonwealth, and Mr. Tod is welcome’. Details of Tod’s life and career in Australia can be found in Perry, Regional Furniture (2007)

Source: Perry, ‘Church Furniture in Australia; the Work of F.W. Tod, 1879-1958’, Regional Furniture (2007).