Author: WILSON, George
Biography:
WILSON, George (d 1823: findmypast.com)
His origins are obscure. He might have been born in Bishop-Wearmouth, Durham, about 1749. He may have trained with a printer, since that later became his trade; he was also a Methodist preacher. He is probably the George Wilson of Bishop-Wearmouth who married Mary Ranson at her parish of Penshaw, Durham, on 13 Apr. 1779. They had at least five children baptised in Durham before Wilson was called to the ministry of the Wesleyan White Chapel in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1792. He resigned from that position in 1805 and printed his own parting sermon, The Minister’s Farewel to his People that year—though not his earlier defence of the Leeds theatre company, the Retort Courteous (1801), which was dedicated to the theatre’s manager, Tate Wilkinson (1739-1803). The Retort Courteous contained several patriotic songs Wilson had written for Leeds volunteers and a masonic lodge. Later printing work included a Complete Family Bible (1812-15). Local newspapers reported landmarks in the life of the family of the “printer and bookseller of this city,” such as the marriage of his daughter Jane to another printer in 1814 and the death of his wife Mary in 1815. Wilson died at Leeds at an unknown date in 1823 and was buried on 2 Oct. 1823 at St. Peter’s Chapel (Wesleyan). (ancestry.com 5 Jan. 2025; findmypast.com 5 Jan. 2025; “Leeds—White Chapel,” genuki.org.uk 5 Jan. 2025; Leeds Mercury 30 July 1814, 12 Aug. 1815) HJ