Author: Wilson, John Mackay
Biography:
WILSON, John Mackay (1804-35: ODNB)
The eldest son of Jean (Mackay) and William Wilson, he was born on 15 Aug. 1804 at Tweedmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed. His father was a millwright but had moved to Tweedmouth to work as a sawyer. Wilson was educated at the local school and worked briefly as a teacher before being apprenticed to William Lochhead, a Berwick printer. Lochhead printed Wilson’s first book, issued when he was twenty. Wilson travelled to Edinburgh and London several times but was disappointed in his ambition to make his name as a poet. In 1831 he began lecturing in towns across England for the Society of Friends in support of temperance and, in 1832, he was appointed editor of the Berwick Advertiser. At about the same time, he began writing tales that were published in periodicals, achieving far greater success than he ever had with his verse. The tales, collected and issued in forty-eight weekly numbers, made his name. His wife was Sarah Gladston but no details of their marriage have been found and they seem not to have had children. Wilson died on 2 Oct. 1835 at Berwick and was buried in St. Bartholomew's churchyard, Tweedmouth, on 6 Oct. There is a memorial to him, erected by his widow, which identifies him as the author of "The Tales of the Borders." His will, proved in Feb. 1836, left his entire property to Sarah. His tales were continued after his death to support Sarah and reissued in collections several times. (ODNB 19 Dec. 2020; ancestry.co.uk 19 Dec. 2020, 4 Nov. 2025; findmypast.co.uk 19 Dec. 2020, 4 Nov. 2025; Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend 3 [1889]) SR