WILSON, GEORGE, chemist, born in Edinburgh, younger brother of Sir Daniel; was appointed professor of Technology in Edinburgh University; was eminent as a popular lecturer on science, and an enthusiast in whatever subject he took up (1819-1859).

WILSON, HORACE HAYMAN, Orientalist, born in London; studied medicine; went to India as a surgeon; mastered Sanskrit, and became Boden professor at Oxford (1786-1860).

WILSON, JOHN, Indian missionary, born near Lauder, educated at Edinburgh; missionary at Bombay from 1828 to his death—­from 1843 in connection with the Free Church of Scotland; from his knowledge of the languages and religions of India, and his sagacity, was held in high regard (1804-1875).

WILSON, JOHN, the well-known “Christopher North,” born in Paisley, son of a manufacturer, who left him a fortune of L50,000; studied at Glasgow and Oxford; a man of powerful physique, and distinguished as an athlete as well as a poet; took up his abode in the Lake District, and enjoyed the society of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey; wrote two poems, the “Isle of Palms,” and the “City of the Plague”; lost his fortune, and came to settle in Edinburgh; was called to the Scottish bar, but never practised; became editor of Blackwood’s Magazine, and was in 1820 elected over Sir William Hamilton professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh University; his health began to fail in 1840; resigned his professorship in 1851, and received a pension from the Crown of L300; he is described by Carlyle as “a tall, ruddy, broad-shouldered figure, with plenteous blonde hair, and bright blue flashing eyes, and as he walked strode rapidly along; had much nobleness of heart, and many traits of noble genius, but the central tie-beam seemed always wanting; a good, grand ruined soul, that never would be great, or indeed be anything” (1785-1854).

WILTON, market-town in Wiltshire, 3 m.  NW. of Salisbury; was the ancient capital of Wessex, and gave name to the county; its church, erected by Lord Herbert of Lea in 1844, is a rich Lombardic structure, with a campanile 108 ft. high.

WILTSHIRE or WILTS (264), an inland county in SW. of England, with Gloucestershire on the N. and Dorset on the S., 54 m. from N. to S. and 37 m. from E. to W.; is largely an agricultural and pastoral county; is flat, rising into hills in the N., and is broken by downs and rich valleys in the S., except on Salisbury Plain; sheep-breeding and dairy-farming are the chief industries, and it is famous for cheese and bacon.

WIMBLEDON (25), a suburb of London, 71/2 m. to the SW., on a common used by the volunteers from 1860 to 1889 for rifle practice.

WINCHESTER (19), an ancient city of Hampshire, and the county town, 60 m.  SW. of London, on the right bank of the Itchen; is a cathedral city, with a noted large public school; was at one time the capital of England; the cathedral dates from the 11th century, but it has subsequently undergone considerable extensions and alterations; the school was founded by William of Wykeham in 1387.