Thomas Wilson

Thomas Wilson (1764-1843) was a London silk merchant who attended the Tabernacle in London (founded by George Whitefield). Wilson was the son of Thomas Wilson (1731-1794). The elder Wilson helped build a dissenting chapel at Derby in 1784. The younger Wilson succeeded his father as treasurer of Hoxton Academy in 1794, and remained so until his death. He retired from business in 1798, living then at 16 Artillery Place, near Finsbury Square. In 1799 he was instrumental in building a new chapel at Hoxton (opened 24 April 1800) and gave the ground for the Hoxton Academy when it moved to Highbury in 1826. After 1804 he often served as a lay preacher and was instrumental in building numerous chapels around London and in other cities and locations in England. He became one of the first directors of the London Missionary Society in September 1795 (he later served as treasurer of the LMS from 1832 to 1843); he served as treasurer of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Religious Tract Society, the Congregational Library; and he was one of the founders of the University of London. His wife, Elizabeth, whom he married in 1791, was the daughter of Arthur Clegg, timber merchant and founding member of the Mosley Street Chapel  (Independent) in Manchester. Thomas Wilson was, like many dissenters in the 1790s, a strong advocate for political reform and the rights of the people; he was also opposed to England’s war with France in 1793. Wilson maintained close connections with Independents and Baptists, subscribing in 1804-1805 to the Baptist Missionary Society. His son, Joshua Wilson, was also a major figure in British Congregationalism. See Joshua Wilson, Memoir of the Life and Character of Thomas Wilson, Esq., Treasurer of Highbury College (London: John Snow, 1849); Periodical Accounts, 3:137.