[1] Originally from Hawick, Roxburghshire in Scotland, Wilson was educated at Bruce Castle School, in London, and then at the Edinburgh Institution.

[2] He went to New Zealand in January 1873 and purchased a large block of rough land in an area between what is now Bulls and Sanson in the Rangitikei district.

[3] The 1881 election in the Foxton electorate was contested by six candidates, and he beat Charles Beard Izard, Walter Buller, George Warren Russell, Alfred Newman, and W.

[7] His Uncle was the MP James Wilson, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, founder of The Economist, and the chartered banks of India, Australia, and China.

A short history of the purchase and colonization of the land between the Turakina and Oroua Rivers, and an account of the various pioneers."