Benjamin Gilmore WILSON

WILSON, BENJAMIN GILMORE (b. Moy, Co Tyrone, Ireland, 16 Mar 1823; d. Brisbane, 11 Feb 1878). Baptist minister Qld.

Born to a Quaker father and a Primitive Methodist mother, B G Wilson spent his youth in Ireland. After other members of his family migrated to Canada, he moved to England in about 1842 where he continued to engage in evangelistic work by becoming a city missioner in Bradford. After hearing a sermon on the topic, he became convinced of his need for believer's baptism. In 1854 he accepted the pastorate of the Baptist Church at Barnsley. After a short period, he devoted himself to further studies in homoeopathic medicine under Dr J Le Gay Brereton to fit himself for missionary service abroad, together with private theological study and travel in Europe. In 1854 he married Mary Jane Matchett of Armagh.

On 20 May 1858 the Wilsons left England for Australia on the Tornado, having accepted appointment to become minister of the founding Baptist Church in Brisbane, Queensland. The Wharf Street Baptist Church (known from 1890 as City Tabernacle Baptist Church) was formed on 5 Aug 1855 and the first minister, Charles Smith, served only until Nov 1856. Wilson was to be, in effect, the pioneer pastor of Baptist work in Queensland. His appointment was made through the Baptist Missionary Society upon the request of James Voller of Sydney acting on behalf of the church.

The Tornado arrived in Melbourne on 20 Aug and after calling in Sydney where Wilson and Voller became firm friends, the Wilsons arrived in Brisbane at 2am on Sunday morning 12 Sept. Wilson preached his first sermon at 11am that morning on the text Isaiah 22:23-24. For almost twenty years he devoted himself to a busy and growing ministry, ably assisted by his wife. A new church building was soon erected in Wharf Street, outstations were established at many locations and he travelled extensively throughout Queensland visiting Baptist congregations and families. His medical skills were also used frequently, providing a useful and welcome adjunct to other forms of pastoral care which he offered sacrificially to all, whether members of his flock or not.

Although known as a loyal Baptist and a 'zealous minister of the gospel', Wilson was also liberal in his attitudes towards other Christians, and took an active and sympathetic interest in public affairs. Possessing a warm personality, a hearty laugh and a quick wit, he was an eloquent and thoughtful preacher. He read widely but was not attracted to the liberal theology then coming into vogue. Nevertheless, he was not considered strict enough in his beliefs for some of his congregation who moved away to form the Jireh Particular Baptist Church in 1861 based on Calvinistic theology. He took a leading part in denominational life and, in the year before his death, saw the formation of the Baptist Association (now Union) for which he had worked vigorously. He lived in a house he had built on a large block in Gregory Terrace and also owned a property at the beach resort of Sandgate. After a period of ill health in 1875, Wilson resigned his church in Jan 1878 and died soon after.

'A Zealous Minister of the Gospel' - a family memoir (Brisbane, 1940); John E White, A Fellowship of Service (Brisbane, 1977); Queensland Baptist Jubilee Record Volume 1855-1905(Brisbane, 1905)

DAVID PARKER