Woburn
Also found in: Dictionary, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
Woburn
(wo͞o`bərn), village, Central Bedfordshire, S central England. It is famous for Woburn Abbey (seat of the dukes of Bedford; see RussellRussell,English noble family. It first appeared prominently in the reign of Henry VIII when John Russell, 1st earl of Bedford, 1486?–1555, rose to military and diplomatic importance.
..... Click the link for more information. , family), an 18th-century mansion constructed on the site of a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1145. It contains a noteworthy art collection with many classical works brought from Rome in the 18th cent. A safari park also is there.
Woburn
(wo͞o`bərn), city (1990 pop. 35,943), Middlesex co., NE Mass.; settled 1640, inc. as a city 1888. Formerly a major center for tanneries, the city has electrical, pharmaceutical, chemical, and leather industries, as well as greenhouses. The scientist Benjamin Thompson (Count RumfordRumford, Benjamin Thompson, Count,1753–1814, American-British scientist and administrator, b. Woburn, Mass. In 1776 he went to England, where he served (1780–81) as undersecretary of the colonies, conducting significant experiments with gunpowder in his spare time.
..... Click the link for more information. ) was born there; his house is now a museum.