The inscriptions on the monument read:
Left panel: In ever loving memory of / Louisa Emma / the beloved wife of
Robert Hyslop / Died August 30 1918 / aged 51 years.
Centre panel: In affectionate remembrance / of Edward Wood Knight /
Justice of the Peace for the
County and Borough of Leicester. / For many years the Chairman of the / Board of Governors of the
Leicester Royal Infirmary. / For thirty years an active member / of the Leicester Town Council
and four times Mayor of / this Borough.
Born 16 January 1839 / Died 22 September 1917.
It was his earnest desire to / serve the community in his / day and generation.
Also / Annie / his beloved wife / died October 16 1907 / aged 76 years.
Right panel: In ever loving memory of / dear Mary / the beloved daughter of /
Robert and Louisa Hyslop / died February 27 1915 / aged 28 years. / Also /
of her dear other sister / Annie Louisa / died March 4 1909 / aged 4 months.
Also of / Sergeant Robert Edward Hyslop / of the Suffolk Regiment
beloved eldest son of the above / Died in France in the service of his country
November 21 1916 / aged 27 years.
Edward Wood was born at Derby and moved to Leicester when he was 11.
He held several jobs before being apprenticed to William Baines, hosier and outfitter
in the Market Place.
In the 1860s he joined Pickering & Statham boot and shoes manufacturers in Marble Street.
After a short while he left the partnership and established his own business, E Wood & Co.
In 1878 he sold the business to three of
his associates - Messrs Freeman, Hardy and Willis.
Wood, who stayed on as Chairman and Managing Director of the new limited company, saw the
business soon expanded
with outlets all over the country - from 40 in 1881 to 820 in 1926.
In politics Wood was a Liberal and was first elected to the Town Council, as a member
for
East St Mary's ward, in 1880. He served the town four times as Mayor
(1888, 1895, 1901, 1906) and was knighted in 1906.