John Bowie Wilson (17 June 1820 – 30 April 1883), often referred to as J. Bowie Wilson, was a politician, gold miner and hydropath in colonial

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

for more than 12 years.

Personal life

Wilson was born at

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, Scotland, the third son of Rev. John Wilson, DD. Wilson was educated at Irvine and at the

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and

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Universities. He arrived in Australia in June 1840, leaving in 1848, before returning in 1854. He tried gold mining at Araluen but was not successful. He began practising hydrotherapy and calling himself doctor. He married Julie Bell on 9 July 1859; their children included Julia "Dollie" Bowie Wilson, who married

Francis Alfred Allison Russell Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie298 ...

on 18 April 1899 and died on 24 March 1900.

Politics

In July 1859 was elected to the New South Wales Parliament for the Goldfields South, retaining it until 1864. His biographer describes Wilson as an ultra-

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

who was obsessed with abolishing state-aid to religion, opposing

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

's bill because it did not go far enough. Wilson was Secretary for Lands in the conservative first Martin ministry from October 1863 to February 1865, also serving as Secretary for Lands in the second Martin Ministry from January 1866 to October 1868, and third Martin Ministry from December 1870 to May 1872. At the 1864–65 election he chose not to re-contest Goldfield South and instead was a candidate for Patrick's Plains.

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

satirised his transformation from radical to conservative in verse which included

Bowie fell among the tories,
who beguiled poor Bowie's brains;
Shorn of all his former glories,
Bowie's gone to Patrick's Plains,

Wilson won Patrick's Plains, however the Martin government was defeated. Wilson retained the seat until his defeat at the election in December 1869. He was not long out of parliament, being elected at the February 1870 by-election for East Sydney. Both Wilson and Martin were soundly defeated at the 1872 colonial election for East Sydney. He subsequently contested

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

but was soundly defeated, finishing a distant 4th. Wilson made a final unsuccessful attempt at the East Sydney by-election in June 1872, before retiring from politics. Wilson distinguished himself by his efforts to secure parks and recreation grounds for the people of Sydney.

Later life

Wilson married his second wife, Elizabeth Gowing, on 5 July 1873. He died on at

Moore Park, New South Wales Moore Park is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney located from the Sydney central business district, CBD, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of local government area of the City of Sydney. Moore Park is also a large ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Bowie 1820 births 1883 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Scottish emigrants to Australia 19th-century Australian politicians