Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/103

 expenses in which Wilson's litigation involved him.

Wilson also published: ‘Observations on the Law and Practice of the Sequestration of Ecclesiastical Benefices,’ 1836, 8vo; and ‘Brief Notices of the Fabric and Glebe of St. Mary Aldermary,’ 1840, 8vo. The copy of the latter work in the British Museum contains an autograph letter by the author.

He died on 21 Nov. 1853. He married Mary Anne, daughter of (1742–1821) [q. v.], by whom he had two sons and a daughter. The elder son, Henry Bristow Wilson, is separately noticed.



WILSON, HENRY BRISTOW (1803–1888), divine, born on 10 June 1803, was elder son of [q. v.], by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of (1742–1821) [q. v.] He entered Merchant Taylors' school in October 1809, and was elected to St. John's College, Oxford, in 1821. Matriculating on 25 June 1821, he graduated B.A. in 1825, M.A. in 1829, and B.D. in 1834, and received a fellowship in 1825, which he retained until 1850. In 1831 he was appointed dean of arts, and he acted as tutor from 1833 to 1835. He also filled the office of Rawlinsonian professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1839 to 1844. In 1850 he was presented by St. John's College to the vicarage of Great Staughton in Huntingdonshire, which he retained until his death.

Wilson identified himself in theology with the school of which Benjamin Jowett (afterwards master of Balliol) and Frederick Temple (afterwards archbishop of Canterbury) became the best-known members. In the spring of 1841 Wilson joined [q. v.] in the ‘protest of the four tutors’ against ‘Tract XC.’ In the Lent term of 1851 he delivered the Bampton lectures, taking as his subject ‘The Communion of the Saints: an Attempt to illustrate the True Principles of Christian Union’ (Oxford, 1851, 8vo). His lectures were remarkable for eloquence and power, and still more as ‘the first clear note of a demand for freedom in theological enquiry.’ The widening of theological opinion and of Christian communion was thenceforward the main interest of his life. In 1857 he contributed ‘Schemes of Christian Comprehension’ to ‘Oxford Essays,’ and in 1861 he published a dissertation on ‘The National Church’ in ‘Essays and Reviews.’ Passages in the latter essay were regarded as inculcating erroneous doctrine, particularly in regard to the inspiration of scripture and the future state of the dead. John William Burgon (afterwards dean of Chichester) was especially dissatisfied with his views, and in 1862 proceedings for heresy were instituted against Wilson in the court of arches. On 25 June Wilson, whose case was tried together with that of [q. v.], was found guilty on three out of eight of the articles brought against him, and was sentenced to suspension for a year by the judge, [q. v.] Wilson and Williams both appealed to the judicial committee of the privy council, and their appeals were heard together in 1863. Wilson's defence occupied 19 and 20 June, and was afterwards published. The appeal was successful, and on 8 Feb. 1864 the judicial committee reversed Lushington's decision. Wilson's health, however, was broken by the anxieties of his position, and he never completely recovered from the strain. During later life he did not reside in his benefice. He died, unmarried, at 1 Lawn Villas, Eltham Road, Lee, on 10 Aug. 1888.

Wilson wrote an introduction to ‘A Brief Examination of prevalent Opinions on the Inspiration of the Old and New Testaments’ (London, 1861, 8vo).



WILSON, HORACE HAYMAN (1786–1860), orientalist, was born in London on 26 Sept. 1786. Receiving his general education in Soho Square, London, he commenced medical studies in 1804 at St. Thomas's Hospital, and in 1808 was nominated assistant-surgeon on the Bengal establishment of the East India Company. The voyage occupied six months, and during it he commenced his oriental studies by learning Hindustani. On his arrival he was appointed, owing to his proficiency in