John West Wilson (8 October 1816 – 24 May 1889) was a businessman and arts patron.

Biography

John West Wilson was born at Hull, United Kingdom. He was the son of Thomas Wilson (1792–1869), founder of the shipping company Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. which introduced scheduled services between

Hull, England Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden in 1825 and ran steamers on the route between 1840 and 1842. John Wilson founded the firm JW Wilson at Gothenburg in 1844, operating it in conjunction with the existing family business to trade in corn, wood, paper, pulp and coal, while he also exported cattle there during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. In 1850 John Wilson opened a regular steamship service between Gothenburg and Hull, which proved particularly effective in transporting emigrants from northern Europe to America. In 1865 the company AB Göteborg-London was formed. In 1882 this became part of the Thule Company after Wilson became a partner in the latter. Wilson served on Gothenburg's city council from 1867 to 1886 as well as director of the Skandinaviska Kredit and vice chairman of the trade associations council. He was also treasurer of the Gothenburg Museum's Board of Directors and made many donations. Wilson died at

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Biography

References

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