James Wilson (explorer)

Captain James Wilson (1760–1814), commanded the British ship Duff, which the London Missionary Society contracted in 1797 to convey a team of missionaries (consisting of thirty men, six women, and three children) to their postings in Tahiti, Tonga, and the Marquesas Islands.

He had been a British soldier during the American War of Independence and then he had worked for the East India Company.

Wilson had volunteered to lead such a journey and this offer was accepted in September 1795.

[2] Three years after the establishment of the British mission in Tahiti, the directors of the Society appointed a committee to consider a suitable memorial for presentation to Wilson for his services in helping to establish the first mission in the South Seas.

[4] This added to the idea that Wilson was the hero and his reputation overshadowed that of the missionaries and the Polynesians.