cal officers in and around the province of Bombay. With their assistance he published a second memoir in 1852, embodying the results of the commission's work on the larger caves, like Elephanta. In 1849 he declined the appointment of permanent president of the civil and military examination committee of Bombay, and in 1854 refused the post of government translator, fearing that acceptance might injure his missionary usefulness. In 1855 he published his ‘History of the Suppression of Infanticide in Western India’ (Bombay, 8vo), and in 1858 ‘India Three Thousand Years Ago’ (Bombay, 8vo), a description of the social state of the Aryans on the banks of the Indus. At the time of the Indian mutiny his knowledge of dialects was of great service to the government, for whom he deciphered the insurgents' secret despatches written to evade detection in various archaic characters and obscure local idioms. In 1857, when the university of Bombay was constituted, he was appointed dean of the faculty of arts, a member of the syndicate, and examiner in Sanskrit, Persian, Hebrew, Maráthí, Gujaráthí, and Hindustání, and he soon after was made vice-chancellor by Lord Lawrence.
In 1860 Wilson made a second tour in Rájputána, and in 1864 he was consulted by government in regard to the Abyssinian expedition. In 1870 he made a second visit to Scotland, and was chosen moderator of the general assembly. He returned to Bombay on 9 Dec. 1872, and laboured unweariedly until his death at his residence, ‘The Cliff,’ near Bombay, on 1 Dec. 1875. He was buried in the old Scottish burial-ground. His portrait, engraved by Joseph Brown, is prefixed to his ‘Life’ by Dr. George Smith, C.I.E. Wilson was twice married: first at Edinburgh, on 12 Aug. 1828, to Margaret, daughter of Kenneth Bayne, minister of Greenock. She died on 19 April 1835, leaving a son Andrew (1831–1881) [q. v.], who is separately noticed. Wilson married, secondly, in September 1846, Isabella, second daughter of James Dennistoun of Dennistoun. She died in 1867, leaving no issue.
Wilson's abilities as an orientalist were great, and would have earned him yet higher fame had he not always subordinated his studies to his mission work. It is not easy to overestimate the importance of his labours for Christianity in western India. During later life Indian officials, native potentates, and European travellers alike regarded him with esteem and affection. Lord Lawrence, the governor-general, and Lord Elphinstone, governor of Bombay, were among his personal friends. Through his educational establishments and his wide circle of acquaintances his influence radiated from Bombay over the greater part of India, and natives of Africa also came to study under his care. Besides the works already mentioned he was the author of:
- ‘An Exposure of the Hindu Religion, in Reply to Mora Bhatta Dandekara,’ Bombay, 1832, 8vo.
- ‘A Second Exposure of the Hindu Religion,’ Bombay, 1834, 8vo.
- ‘Memoirs of Mrs. Wilson,’ Edinburgh, 1838, 8vo; 5th edit. 1858.
- ‘The Evangelisation of India,’ Edinburgh, 1849, 16mo.
- ‘Indian Caste,’ edited by Peter Peterson, Bombay, 1877, 2 vols. 8vo; new edit. Edinburgh, 1878.
[Wilson's Works; Smith's Life of Wilson, 1878; Hunter's Hist. of Free Church Missions in India and Africa, 1873; Smith's Life of Alexander Duff, 1881; Marrat's Two Standard Bearers in the East, 1882.]
WILSON, JOHN (1812–1888), agriculturist, was born in London in November 1812. He was educated at University College, London, and afterwards completed his training in Paris, where he studied medicine and chemistry under Payen, Boussingault, and Gay Lussac. In 1845–6 he was in charge of the admiralty coals investigation under Sir Henry de la Beche. From 1846 to 1850 he was principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. His term of office was distinguished chiefly by an attempt to convert the college farm from pasture to arable land, which involved much expense and met with considerable opposition. In 1850 a suggestion on the part of the council for a thorough change of the organisation of the college into that of a school for farmers' sons led to Wilson's resignation. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. S. Haygarth, and the college continued its work much on the former lines.
In 1854 Wilson was, on the death of Professor Low, elected to the chair of agriculture and rural economy in the university of Edinburgh. This professorship had been founded in 1790 by Sir William Pulteney, but the salary attached to it at this time was little more than nominal. In 1868 he succeeded Professor Kelland as secretary to the senate of the Edinburgh University, and in the course of the same year, chiefly owing to the exertions of the Highland and Agricultural Society, the endowment of the chair of agriculture was increased (Journ. Roy. Agr. Soc. Engl. 1885, xxi. 525). Wilson's methods as a teacher were severely criticised, partly no doubt because some of the English systems of farming which he advocated ran counter to Scottish prejudices.
