![Samuel Wilson Vanity Fair 24 January 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Samuel_Wilson_Vanity_Fair_24_January_1885.jpg)
Sir Samuel Wilson (7 February 1832 – 11 June 1895) was an Irish-born Australian
pastoralist and politician, and later a British Member of Parliament.
![SamuelWilsonKensalGreen01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/SamuelWilsonKensalGreen01.jpg)
Wilson was born in
Ballycloughan,
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
, Ireland, in 1832. He was educated at Ballymena and at first intended taking up civil engineering. For three years he worked for a brother-in-law
obert Chesney a linen manufacturer, but in 1852 decided to emigrate to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. He arrived in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
in May 1852 and worked on the goldfields, but a few months later decided to join two brothers who had preceded him to Australia, and had a pastoral property in the
Wimmera
The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...
. He was made manager of one of their holdings, and selling a small property he had in Ireland, with his brothers bought Longerenong station for £40,000. He dug waterholes and made dams on the property which much improved and increased its carrying capacity.
Yanko station in the
Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
was then purchased and much improved. In 1869 Wilson bought his brothers' interests in their stations, afterwards bought other stations in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, and became very wealthy. He was interested in the Acclimatization Society of Victoria and in 1873 wrote pamphlets on the angora goat, and on the ostrich. In 1878 a paper he had written was expanded into a volume, ''The Californian Salmon With an Account of its Introduction into Victoria'', and published in the same year. In 1879 another edition of this was published in London under the title, ''Salmon at the Antipodes''.
Coursing
Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...
was his preferred sport and he was President of the Ballarat Coursing Club from at least 1875 to 1882. He awarded £20 for the winner of the 1875 Ercildoune Cup and in 1876 it was run on his
Ercildoune
Earlston ( sco, Yerlston; gd, Dùn Airchill) is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland.
Early history
Earlston ...
estate.
In 1874 Wilson gave the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
£30,000 which with accrued interest was expended on a building in the Gothic style now known as the Wilson Hall. It was the most considerable gift or bequest that the university had received up to then. In the following year he was elected a member of the
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...
(1875-1881) and
Legislative Assembly (1861-64) for the Western Province, but he never took a very prominent part in politics.
Around that time he purchased the magnificent Ercildoune property for a rumoured £250,000.
About the beginning of 1881 he went to England with his family and leased Hughenden Manor, once the property of the
Earl of Beaconsfield
Earl of Beaconsfield, of Hughenden in the County of Buckingham, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, a favourite of Queen Victoria. Victoria favoured Disraeli's Tory poli ...
. He twice contested seats for the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
without success, but in 1886 was elected as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
for
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and sat until 1892. In September 1893 he again came to Victoria and stayed until March 1895. He became ill soon after his return to England and died on 11 June 1895, and is buried in
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...
, London.
He was knighted in 1875. In 1861 he married a daughter of the Hon
William Campbell. William Campbell is credited with being the first person to find gold in
Clunes in 1850 and so spark the
Victoria gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...
. They had four sons and five daughters. The four sons and two daughters survived him. Wilfred Wilson was mortally wounded in an attack on Boer positions at Hartebeestfontein during the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
.
His eldest son, Lieutenant-Colonel
Gordon Chesney Wilson
Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Chesney Wilson (3 August 1865 – 6 November 1914) was a British Army officer and husband of the war correspondent Lady Sarah Wilson. As an Eton College student he assisted in thwarting Roderick Maclean's assassination ...
, married
Lady Sarah Isabella Churchill, sister of
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of ...
, he fell in The First World War on 6th November 1914 and is buried at
Zillebeke
Zillebeke (also known as Zellebeck) is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres.
History
On 3 March 1914 the then municipality was granted the arms of the last Lords o ...
Churchyard , West Flanders, Belgium.
His daughter Maud Margaret Wilson married
Warner Hastings, 15th Earl of Huntingdon in 1892.
His son Clarence lived at
Grove Place
Grove Place is a Grade I listed building in Nursling, Hampshire. The building was originally a country house and was converted into a lunatic asylum in the 19th century, subsequently used as a farmhouse, and then converted back into a private ...
, Nursling , Southampton, Hampshire
References
*
*L. J. Blake
Wilson, Sir Samuel (1832 - 1895) Australian Dictionary of Biography
The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
, Volume 6,
MUP, 1976, pp 418–419.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Samuel
1832 births
1895 deaths
Australian pastoralists
Victoria (Australia) state politicians
People from County Antrim
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1886–1892
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
19th-century Australian businesspeople