Alexander Wood (merchant)

Alexander Wood (January 1772 – September 11, 1844) was a Scottish merchant and magistrate in Upper Canada who was the centre of a sex scandal in 1810.

Wood was born at Fetteresso near Stonehaven, Scotland, and he moved to Upper Canada in 1793, settling in the town of York (now Toronto) four years later. His original home was located on King Street, between Bay and York Streets, in the heart of what is now Toronto's Financial District. Going into business with William Allan, he established himself as one of the city's leading merchants, was gazetted lieutenant in the York militia in 1798, and was appointed a city magistrate in 1800. In 1801, Wood opened his own store providing quality goods imported from London and Glasgow. The first sidewalk of Toronto was laid on the northwest corner of his King and Frederick shop.

In 1810, Wood found himself at the centre of a scandal when he investigated a rape case. The victim, referred to as Miss Bailey, came to Wood claiming that she did not know the identity of her attacker, however she had scratched her assailant's penis during the assault. In order to identify the assailant, Wood personally inspected the genitals of a number of suspects for injury. There is no evidence on the public record that Wood acted improperly during the investigation, nor indeed of Wood's actual sexual orientation; however, contradictory rumours began to emerge about his conduct, including allegations that Miss Bailey never existed at all and that Wood had fabricated the rape charge as an opportunity to fondle and seduce young men.

When confronted with the charges by his friend, Judge William Dummer Powell, Wood wrote back, “I have laid myself open to ridicule & malevolence, which I know not how to meet; that the thing will be made the subject of mirth and a handle to my enemies for a sneer I have every reason to expect.” Wood became the subject of ridicule and was tagged with the nickname "Molly Wood", "Molly" then being a derisive slang expression for a homosexual man.John Robinson, at the time a young law clerk in Powell's office, called Wood the "Inspector General of private Accounts."

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