Alexander Stoddart Wilson (1854–1909) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who was also a scientist, serving as interim Professor of Botany at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Life

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1853. He was the son of Alexander Wilson (1810-1891) Free Church minister of Bridgeton. He studied Science at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. From around 1873 he served as interim Professor of Botany at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

also lecturing in Botany at other colleges: Anderson's College; West of Scotland Technical College and St Margaret's College. His period as interim professor seems to have been necessitated to cover a prolonged field trip by Alexander Dickson. Around 1878 he began retraining as a Free Church minister at the Free Church College in Glasgow and he was ordained at

North Queensferry North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth where the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing all meet the Fife coast, some from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the southernmost sett ...

in 1881. His parish became swamped by construction workers in 1882 when the construction of the

Forth Rail Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

began. A separate mission hall was built to accommodate the several hundred workers working on the north side of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. He recruited an assistant missionary (Captain Elder) to help in this task, which included lectures in

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

. During the eight years that they worked on the bridge certainly some of these new parishioners were amongst the 57 fatalities on the bridge. The workforce left in 1890 as suddenly as they had arrived and the mission hall became redundant. During his period at North Queensferry he appears to have continued his Monday to Friday role as a lecturer in Glasgow (this was very unusual). In 1885 he is listed as the founder of the Andersonian Naturalists Society. A new manse was built for him in 1890. Following the Union of 1900 he transferred to the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

. He died in

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an impo ...

on 8 February 1909. He is buried in Inverkeithing Cemetery. The broken grave lies on the north boundary wall.

Family

In 1882 he married Elizabeth Blackadder Somerville (d. 1942). They had two children: Daniel Somerville, who accidentally drowned at

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

in 1910, and Elizabeth Helen (d. 1933).Grave of Rev Wilson, Inverkeithing Cemetery

Publications

*''Dispersion of Seeds'' (1888)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Alexander Stoddart 1854 births 1909 deaths Clergy from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Glasgow 19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland Scottish botanists 20th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland