Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/105

 Bengal, Centenary vol.; communications from family and from Professor Cowell, his pupil and friend.]

 WILSON, JAMES (1780–1847), major-general, born in 1780, received a commission as ensign in the 27th foot on 12 Dec. 1798. His further commissions were dated: lieutenant, 31 Aug. 1799; captain, 27 May 1801; major, 20 June 1811; brevet lieutenant-colonel, 27 April 1812; colonel, 22 July 1830; major-general, 28 June 1838. He served with his regiment in the expedition to the Helder in 1799, took part in the action on landing on 27 Aug., in the actions of 10 and 19 Sept., in the battle of Alkmaar or Bergen on 2 Oct., and the action of Beverwyk on 6 Oct. In July 1800 he accompanied the expedition under Sir James Pulteney to Ferrol, and under Sir Ralph Abercromby to Cadiz, and in the following year went with Abercromby to Egypt, took part in the battle on landing in Aboukir Bay on 8 March 1801, in the action at Nicopolis on the 13th, in the battle of Alexandria on 21 March, and in the further operations of the campaign.

Wilson exchanged into the 48th foot on 9 July 1803. He served with Sir John Moore in Leon during the campaign of 1808. In 1809 he accompanied the 48th to the Peninsula, and was at the battle of Talavera on 27 and 28 July, and of Busaco on 27 Sept., took part in the retreat to Torres Vedras, and in the subsequent advance in 1810 in pursuit of Masséna. At the battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 Wilson succeeded, on the death of Lieutenant-colonel Duckworth, to the command of the 48th, and was twice severely wounded. He again commanded his regiment at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, taking part in the storm. He commanded the column of assault on the ravelin of San Roque at the storm of Badajoz on 6 April 1812, when he carried the gorge, and, with the assistance of Major John Squire [q. v.] of the royal engineers, established himself in the work. He was particularly mentioned in despatches by Sir Thomas Picton and by the Duke of Wellington.

Wilson commanded his regiment in the advance to the Douro, in the retreat to Castrajon, and in the battle of Salamanca on 22 July 1812, when he succeeded to the command of the fusilier brigade, and was mentioned in despatches. He commanded a light battalion at the battle of Vittoria on 21 June 1813, and during the operations in the Pyrenees, until he was twice severely wounded at the battle of Sauroren on 28 July 1813. He was again mentioned in despatches. In 1814 he commanded the 48th in the advance to the Garonne, and was present at the battle of Toulouse on 10 April, was again wounded, and again mentioned in despatches. For his services he was made a knight commander of the order of the Bath, military division, on 2 Jan. 1815, and received the gold cross, with clasp, for Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, and Toulouse, and the reward for distinguished service. He was also presented with a sword of honour by the officers of the 48th foot in memory of his having so often led them to victory. He died at Bath in February 1847.

 WILSON, JAMES (1795–1856), zoologist, the youngest son of John Wilson (d. 1796), a gauze manufacturer, and his wife Margaret (born Sym), was born at Paisley in November 1795. ‘Christopher North’ (John Wilson, 1785–1854 [q. v.]) was his eldest brother. The father having died during James's first year, the family removed to Edinburgh, where young Wilson passed his school and college days. In 1811 he began to study for the law, but his health did not allow of his following this for long. In 1816 he visited Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Paris. He afterwards returned to Paris to purchase the Dufresne collection of birds for the museum of the Edinburgh University. These he arranged in their new home, a congenial employment for one who from boyhood had had a great love for natural history. In 1819 he visited Sweden, soon after which symptoms of pulmonary disease appeared that compelled him to reside in Italy during 1820–1. In 1824 he married and settled down at Woodville, near Edinburgh, devoting himself to scientific and literary pursuits. Losing his wife in 1837, he took a winter residence in George Square, Edinburgh.

In 1841, with Sir Thomas Dick Lauder [q. v.], he made a series of excursions round the coasts of Scotland, at the request of the fisheries board, to study the natural history of the herring, and make other observations of interest to the fishing industry. Other trips followed at intervals between 1843 and 1850, besides which he took many fishing excursions inland. In 1854 he was offered but declined the chair of natural history in the Edinburgh University, then vacant by the death of Professor Edward Forbes [q. v.]

He died at Woodville on 18 May 1856. In 1824 he married Isabella Keith (d. 1837). Wilson had joined the Wernerian Society