When still a boy he was removed to Knaresborough, where he resided with his physician uncle, Dr. Thomas HutchinsonFSA (d. March 1797), to be trained in the medical profession.

In 1848 Wilson wrote and published a pamphlet entitled A House for Shakespeare in which he proposed the creation of a national theatre company.

General Lafayette sent Wilson a bust of himself and an autographed letter after he published one of his works in translation in London.

"[28] Walter Bagehot, a close personal friend wrote that Wilson "was full of amenity, kindness and cheerfulness.

He enjoyed excellent health throughout his long life, and used often to remark that he had lived sixty years in London without a headache.

[31] The firm was continued by his son Henry Schütz Wilson (born 1824), being taken over by Isaac Pitman in 1932; which was taken over in turn by Pearson plc.