The Wood family tree can be traced back over 200 years and the story is based entirely round the area called Saddleworth. Saddleworth is a collection of thirteen villages in the Pennine hills in between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Denshaw, Delph, Dobcross, Diggle, Uppermill and Greenfield can be found in the valleys, and towards Oldham, the more urban villages of Scouthead, Austerlands, Friezland, Grasscroft, Lydgate, Grotton and Springhead can be found. Up until the boundary was moved as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972, Saddleworth was a part of the old West Riding of Yorkshire. Saddleworth became a part of Greater Manchester, falling under the auspices of Oldham Metropolitan Council. Historically Saddleworth was a centre of domestic woollen cloth production. Following the Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Saddleworth became a centre for cotton spinning and weaving. By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, mechanised textile production had become a vital part of the local economy. Following the Great Depression Saddleworth's textile sector declined. Much of Saddleworth's architecture and infrastructure dates from its textile processing days however, notably the Saddleworth Viaduct and several cottages and terraces, many built by the local mill owners. For centuries Saddleworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale and was long talked of as the part of Yorkshire where Lancastrians lived. The former Saddleworth Urban District was the only part of the West Riding to have been amalgamated into Greater Manchester in 1974. However, strong cultural links with Yorkshire remain amongst its communities. Certain family surnames such as Buckley, Shaw, Schofield, Wood, Bradbury and Wrigley proliferate and forenames occur time and time again so family research in the area is bit of a minefield. For example, there were at least four people named Abraham Wood listed in Saddleworth in the 1881 Census with the same number again on its boundaries.