WILDE, OSCAR O’FLAHERTY (1856-1900).—­Poet and dramatist, s. of Sir William W., the eminent surgeon, was b. at Dublin, and ed. there at Trinity Coll. and at Oxf.  He was one of the founders of the modern cult of the aesthetic.  Among his writings are Poems (1881), The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel, and several plays, including Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of no Importance, and The Importance of being Earnest.  He was convicted of a serious offence, and after his release from prison went abroad and d. at Paris. Coll. ed. of his works, 12 vols., 1909.

WILKES, JOHN (1727-1797).—­Politician, s. of a distiller in London, was ed. at Leyden.  Witty, resourceful, but unprincipled and profligate, he became from circumstances the representative and champion of important political principles, including that of free representation in Parliament.  His writings have nothing of the brilliance and point of his social exhibitions, but his paper, The North Briton, and especially the famous “No. 45,” in which he charged George III. with uttering a falsehood in his speech from the throne, caused so much excitement, and led to such important results that they give him a place in literature.  He also wrote a highly offensive Essay on Woman.  W. was expelled from the House of Commons and outlawed, but such was the strength of the cause which he championed that, notwithstanding the worthlessness of his character, his right to sit in the House was ultimately admitted in 1774, and he continued to sit until 1790.  He was also Lord Mayor of London.

WILKIE, WILLIAM (1721-1772).—­Poet, b.. in Linlithgowshire, s. of a farmer, and ed. at Edin., he entered the Church, and became minister of Ratho, Midlothian, in 1756, and Prof. of Natural Philosophy at St. Andrews in 1759.  In 1757 he pub. the Epigoniad, dealing with the Epigoni, sons of the seven heroes who fought against Thebes.  He also wrote Moral Fables in Verse.

WILKINS, JOHN (1614-1672).—­Mathematician and divine, s. of a goldsmith in Oxf., but b. at Daventry and ed. at Oxf., entered the Church, held many preferments, and became Bishop of Chester.  He m. a sister of Oliver Cromwell, and being of an easy temper and somewhat accommodating principles, he passed through troublous times and many changes with a minimum of hardship.  He was one of the band of learned men whom Charles II. incorporated as the Royal Society.  Among his writings are The Discovery of a World in the Moon, Mathematical Magic, and An Essay towards ... a Philosophical Language.

WILKINSON, SIR JOHN GARDNER (1797-1875).—­Egyptologist, s. of a Westmoreland clergyman, studied at Oxf.  In 1821 he went to Egypt, and remained there and in Nubia exploring, surveying, and studying the hieroglyphical inscriptions, on which he made himself one of the great authorities.  He pub. two important works, of great literary as well as scholarly merit, Materia Hieroglyphica (1828) and Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (6 vols., 1837-41).  He wrote various books of travel, and was knighted in 1839.