John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a country, region, or con ...

s. The ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

'' (published 1870–72), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was a companion to his ''

Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland The ''Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland'' is a topographical dictionary first published in parts between 1854 and 1857, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It also appeared in two undated volumes in 1868 and was described as "A Dictionary of ...

'', published 1854–57. He was born in

Lochmaben Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...

, Dumfriesshire in about 1805, and was ordained as a Congregationalist minister, working for a time in County Galway in Ireland. From the late 1840s onwards he devoted himself to writing and editing, living in Edinburgh, where he died in 1885, aged 80.Statutory Register of Deaths
Edinburgh

Selected works

* ''The Farmer's Dictionary or a cyclopedia of agriculture in all its departments, principles, methods, recent improvements and business affairs as taught and practice by the most distinguished British agriculturists of the present day. '' (n.d.)
''The Rural Cyclopedia: or a general dictionary of agriculture, and of the arts, sciences, instruments, and practice, necessary to the farmer, stockfarmer, gardener, forester, landsteward, farrier, &c.''
(1847–49)
''The Potato, its diseases, uses, etc.''
(1850) * ''A Memoir of Field-marshal, the Duke of Wellington; with interspersed notices of his principal associates in council, and companions and opponents in arms'' (1853–54) * ''The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland : or, Dictionary of Scottish topography'' 2 vols. (1854–57) * ''Landscapes of Interesting Localities mentioned in the Holy Scriptures ...'' (1855) * ''The Divine Architect, or The wonders of creation'' (1857)
''The land of Scott; or, Tourists' guide to Abbotsford, the country of the Tweed and its tributaries, and St. Mary's loch''
(1858)
''Earth, Sea, and Sky; or, The hand of God in the works of nature''
(1859) * (1860) * ''The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales; embracing recent changes in counties etc.; and forming a complete description of the country'' (1870–72)
''Nature, Man, and God: a contrib. to the scientific teaching of to-day''
(1885)

References

British book editors British non-fiction writers 19th-century British writers Christian writers 1805 births People from Dumfries and Galloway 1885 deaths British encyclopedists 19th-century British male writers Male non-fiction writers {{Editor-stub