Daniel Wilson (2 July 1778 – 2 January 1858) was an English Bishop of Calcutta.

Early life

Born in

Spitalfields Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Stre ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he was the son of the silk manufacturer Stephen Wilson and his wife Ann Collett West. He was apprenticed to his uncle William Wilson in 1791. Wilson was persuaded by John Eyre and

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery Abolitionism, abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Nav ...

to become a minister. They were associates of his maternal grandfather Daniel West, as were Thomas Wilson his first cousin and his father Thomas, Samuel Brewer,

Thomas Haweis Thomas Haweis (c.1734–1820), (surname pronounced to rhyme with "pause") was born in Redruth, Cornwall, on 1 January 1734, where he was baptised on 20 February 1734. As a Church of England cleric he was one of the leading figures of the 18th ce ...

, and

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke Coll ...

. He matriculated at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

in 1798, and graduated B.A. in 1802, M.A. in 1804. He was ordained in 1801 and became curate to Richard Cecil at

Chobham Chobham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England. The village has a small high street area, specialising in traditional trades and motor trades. The River Bourne ...

and Bisley.

Evangelical priest

Wilson developed into a strong preacher, associated with the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...

of evangelical Anglicans. He was tutor or vice-principal of St Edmund Hall, and minister of Worton, Oxfordshire, 1807 to 1812; assistant curate at St John's Chapel, Bedford Row,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, 1808 to 1812 (where Richard Cecil had earlier been incumbent); sole minister there, 1812 to 1824; and vicar of St Mary's Church, Islington, 1824 to 1832. Wilson founded the Islington Clerical Conference in 1827 in his library. In 1831, Wilson was one of the founders of the Lord's Day Observance Society.

In India

In 1832 Wilson was awarded a D.D. by diploma by the University of Oxford. That year he was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta and first Metropolitan of India and Ceylon. He founded an English church at

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Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, in 1855 and St Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta (consecrated 1847). He was an indefatigable worker and as bishop was noted for fidelity and firmness. He also founded

Dhaka College Dhaka College (), informally known as DC, is a public educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in the subcontinent. It offers Honours degree, honours and Master's degree ...

on 18 July 1841. It was completed in 1846 with the aid of the Bishop of Calcutta. In 1835, Wilson was noted for calling India's caste system "a cancer". Wilson died in Calcutta in 1858 and is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata.

Works

* Numerous sermons published separately and in collections * ''The Evidences of Christianity, . . . a Course of Lectures'' (2 vols., London, 1828–1830) * ''Bishop Wilson's Journal Letters, addressed to his Family the first Nine Years of his Indian Episcopacy'' (1863; edited by his son Daniel Wilson, Vicar of Islington) * ''The Divine Authority and Perpetual Obligation of the Lord's Day, asserted in seven sermons'' (London, 1831) (in print, fro
Day One

Family

In 1803 Wilson married Ann Wilson (died 1827), daughter of William Wilson, a cousin. Of their six children, three died young. When Wilson left for India, his son Daniel Frederick Wilson, then aged 27, took over as Vicar of Islington and served there for over 40 years. Another son became a missionary to indigenous Canadians in the Diocese of Algoma in the

Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario The Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. It was established in 1912 out of six dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada located in the civil Provinces and territories ...

. His daughter was fostered by Anne Woodrooffe.

References

External links

''Bishop Wilson and the Origins of Dalit Liberation''

St Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta

British History Online ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes'' page on Churches

Attribution * Initial text of article from ''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', edited for style, and with addition

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson 1778 births 1858 deaths 18th-century Anglican bishops 18th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century evangelicals 19th-century Anglican bishops 19th-century Anglican theologians 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English non-fiction writers 19th-century evangelicals Anglican bishops of Calcutta Anglican bishops of West Malaysia English Evangelical writers English male non-fiction writers English sermon writers Evangelical Anglicans