Author: Wilson, Robert
Biography:
WILSON, Robert (1795-1858: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 1 Jan. 1795 (baptised 26 Feb.) at Kirknewton, Midlothian, to Catherine (Boak) and James Wilson. His was a large family in humble circumstances, and he was apprenticed to a joiner after being educated at the local school. However, he was ambitious and moved to Edinburgh where, with the support of an older brother, he eventually began to study for the ministry with the United Secession Church. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1828 and was sent to Kendal, Westmoreland, where he was ordained in Dec. 1828. According to Sell, he was memorable for his passionate "anti-Unitarian invective." He married Helen Brodie at st. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh, on 21 Sept. 1829; they had a number of children but at least four died in childhood. He stayed with the church in Kendal until 1833 when he was moved to the Nicholson Street United Presbyterian Church in Greenock. The 1851 Census shows him living with Helen and three daughters at 5 Nelson Street in Greenock. He was a popular preacher and had wide-ranging interests outside of his work—particularly in practical mechanics. In about 1855 he was made DD by the University of St Andrews. He remained in Greenock until his death on 23 Apr. 1858 from lung disease; he was buried in the Greenock cemetery. He also published The Pleasures of Piety, a poem in eight books (1837), and Strictures on Geology and Astronomy (1843). (ancestry.co.uk 22 Dec. 2020, 4 Nov. 2025; findmypast.co.uk 4 Nov. 2025; United Presbyterian Magazine [1859] 18-26; Dumfries and Galloway Standard 28 Apr. 1858; Alan P. F. Sell, Church Planting: A Study of Westmoreland Nonconformity [1998], 90) SR
Other Names:
- R.W.