Sir Alexander Wood was the son of the late Alexander Wood, (c.1750s–1807) esq an eminent member of the medical profession in Edinburgh. Sir Alexander Wood went to Ceylon on the civil establishment in 1801 and after filling the offices of member of the Council and sole Commissioner of Revenue, he returned to England in 1811. On Sir Thomas Maitland’s insistence, Wood, who had served under Maitland in Ceylon, was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Malta between 1815 and 1817. He was also Chief Secretary to the Government of the Ionian Islands, and up to the period of his demise was Resident Agent in England for the Ionian Islands. He was nominated a Knight Commander of St Michael and St George in 1820, and in the same year dubbed a Knight Bachelor. Sir Alexander Wood married the eldest daughter of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo Bart, Christian Forbes, in 1807 and died on the 18th of March in 1847 at Holles Street Cavendish square.
Perit André Zammit was born in 1930 in Gozo, where his father was a senior civil servant. André experienced the war years in Victoria, where he received his secondary education at the Seminary, transferring to St Aloysius College in Birkirkara in 1943. He sat for his matriculation examinations and entered the Royal University of Malta to follow the course of Architect and Civil Engineer. He was the youngest of his fellow students, graduating in 1952 and then winning a government scholarship to further his studies in London in road building. Further specialisation followed in Milan.
On his return to Malta, he joined the Public Works Department and was detailed to the roads section. He was responsible for the design and execution of the first fly-over project at Blata l-Bajda in the late 1950s and several other major road construction projects.
André lectured at the Royal University of Malta and in later years, he was chairman of the Planning Area Permits Board.
He authored a number of books starting with his memoires and then the history of his family architects and a biography of his maternal uncle, Chief Justice Sir Luigi Camilleri and Our Architects – A Private Archive Unveiled, based on the Collection
He died on 14 May 2020.