Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wilson, William (1808-1888)
WILSON, WILLIAM (1808–1888), Scots divine, was born in 1808 at Blawearie, Bassendean, in Berwickshire. He was educated at the parish school, and in 1825 entered the university of Edinburgh, where he took the arts and theological classes, studying under Chalmers, David Welsh [q. v.], and Alexander Brunton. Licensed by the presbytery of Dumfries on 2 March 1830, Wilson was early recognised as a powerful preacher. Till 1837 he acted as a parochial missionary in Glasgow, and from 1835 to 1837 he was editor of the ‘Scottish Guardian.’ On 22 Sept. 1837 he was ordained minister of Carmyllie, Forfarshire. In the conflict which ended in the disruption, Wilson took an active part. He joined the free church and preached in a wooden building till 1848, when he was called to the mariners' church, Dundee, where he officiated till 1877. He was elected moderator of the free-church assembly on 24 May 1866, junior principal clerk of assembly in 1868, and senior clerk in 1883. On 20 April 1870 he received the degree of D.D. from Edinburgh University. In 1877 he was appointed secretary of the sustentation fund committee. He also held the office of Chalmers lecturer. He died on 14 Jan. 1888, survived by one son and five daughters. His remains were accorded a public funeral in Dundee. In 1840 Wilson married Eliza, daughter of Alexander White of Drimmietermont, near Forfar. She died in February 1860.
Wilson wrote:
- ‘Statement of the Scriptural Argument against Patronage,’ Edinburgh, 1842, 8vo.
- ‘The Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ Edinburgh, 1859, 8vo.
- ‘Christ setting his Face towards Jerusalem,’ Dundee, 1878, 8vo.
- ‘Memorials of R. S. Candlish, D.D.,’ Edinburgh, 1880, 8vo.
Wilson also edited with a preface and notes Daniel Defoe's ‘Memoirs of the Church of Scotland,’ 1844, and contributed a preface to Sir James Stewart and James Stirling's ‘Survey of Naphtaly,’ 1845. He wrote the history of the parish of Carmyllie for the ‘New Statistical Account of Scotland,’ and contributed to the ‘Free Church Pulpit.’
[Scott's Fasti, III. ii. 794; J. M. McBain's Eminent Arbroathians, 1897; Scotsman, 16 Jan. 1888; Smith's Scot. Clergy, vol. iii.; Brit. Mus. Cat.]