Minister and missionary, popularly known as 'Fiji' Wilson. He was born in Bosfoot, Covend, Kirkcudbright, Scotland, on 21 November 1828 and raised in the Church of Scotland. Converted in his late teens in Liverpool and accepted as a candidate for the ministry in 1850, after training at Richmond College and marriage to Jane (1828-59), daughter of Peter McOwan (1795-1870), he sailed for Fiji in 1853, to work with James Calvert. Wilson was stationed successively at Viwa and Bua. Jane died at Bua in May 1859 and in 1860 Wilson returned to England with his three infant sons. He served in a succession of English circuits, was elected to the Legal Hundred in 1880, and attended the 1881 and 1891 Ecumenical Methodist Conferences. A consistent advocate of missions, especially to Fiji, he died on 1 June 1896.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Person
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