Wood was born on 2 September 1899 in Graveney, Kent, England. Her father was a shepherd, and she had two sisters and one brother. She was forced to leave school at the age of 13 because she was suffering from rheumatism.

Wood married her husband, Henry, in 1919. They worked together on a farm in Graveney, and they often used to walk the sheep from the village to market in nearby Canterbury. The couple had one child, David, and were married for 64 years until Henry’s death in 1984.

In the mid-1990s, Wood moved to a care home in Whitstable, Kent, England. Her sister, Bertha, lived in the same home and died at the age of 105 in 2007. At the time of her 112th birthday in 2011, Wood had two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

Wood became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom following the death of 112 year-old Margaret Fish on 12 March 2011. Wood died on 29 February 2012 at the age of 112 years, 180 days. Following her death, Grace Adelaide Jones became the UK’s oldest living person.