Originally from
Hawick,
Roxburghshire in Scotland, Wilson was educated at
Bruce Castle School, in
London, and then at the
Edinburgh Institution. He emigrated to
Victoria in 1870 and worked on a sheep run. He met his future wife,
Annie Adams, at the
Melbourne Club. He went to New Zealand in January 1873 and purchased a large block of rough land in an area between what is now
Bulls and
Sanson in the
Rangitikei district. Once established, he returned to Australia and married Annie Adams near
Skipton, Victoria. The in the electorate was contested by six candidates, and he beat
Charles Beard Izard,
Walter Buller,
George Russell,
Alfred Newman, and W. France. Wilson was
knighted in 1915, and died at
Bulls on 3 May 1929. He was the first president (1902–1920) of the Farmer's Union, now
Federated Farmers.
Ormond Wilson was his grandson. His Uncle was the MP
James Wilson, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, founder of
The Economist, and the chartered banks of India, Australia, and China. == Further reading ==