J. W. Wilson

At the end of his pupilage he was an assistant at the firm, in charge of the machinery used for the preparation of timber in the construction of the Crystal Palace, the building housing the Great Exhibition of 1851.

He became a consulting engineer at the Timber Works in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and patented in 1855 a circular gouge and disc-paring tool for timber machinery, for which he received a medal from the Royal Society of Arts.

[1][2] In 1857 Wilson established himself as a consulting engineer in London, and was involved in the construction of piers including those at Teignmouth and Bognor Regis.

[1][2] In 1872, with the support of George Grove, secretary of Crystal Palace School, he founded there the School of Practical Engineering, which combined theory and practice of engineering.

[1][2] His son Joseph William Wilson (1851–1930) was co-founder and first vice-principal of the Crystal Palace School of Engineering, and succeeded his father as principal in 1898;[3] his son Maurice Wilson (1862–1936) became principal in 1924.