Wilson, JOHN, Indian missionary, was born a farmer's son near Lander, in Berwickshire, 11th December 1804. Educated at Edinburgh University, he went in 1828 to Bombay as a missionary; and here he laboured—from 1843 under the flag of the Free Church of Scotland—till his death, 1st December 1875. His mastery of the languages of Western India, and grasp of the literature, the history, the faiths, and the social usages of the races of India, combined with his energy, sagacity, and broad sympathy to give Wilson an unexampled influence. An active promoter of education, legal reform, toleration, and philanthropic movements of every kind, he was much consulted by government, especially during the crisis of 1857. He was twice president of the Bombay branch of the Asiatic Society, and was vice-chancellor of the Bombay University, F.R.S., and Moderator in the Free Church Assembly in 1870. His chief writings were The Parsi Religion (1843) and The Lands of the Bible (1847). See the Life by Dr George Smith (1878).
His son, ANDREW (1830-81), was born at Bombay, and studied at Edinburgh and Tübingen. He was for three years editor of the China Mail, and later of the Bombay Gazette, wrote much for Blackwood and other serials, but is best known for his account of Gordon's Ever Victorious Army (1868) and his book on the Himalayas, The Abode of Snow (1875). He also wrote a Schiller for the 'Foreign Classics' series.