[taken from Chapter 1 Manx Worthies, A.W.Moore, 1901]

THOMAS WILSON (b. 1703, d. 1784),

the only son of Bishop Thomas Wilson and Mary Patten, was born at Bishop's Court, in the Isle of Man. He seems to have been educated by his father till he went to Christ Church, Oxford where he took his M.A. degree in 1727, taking the further degrees of B.D. and D.D. in 1739. He was, for many years, chaplain to King George the Second, and Prebendary of Westminster. He was also Rector of St. Margaret's there; till 1738, when he was appointed to the Rectory of St. Stephen's, Walbrook. Several pamphlets are attributed to him, one being " A Review of a Project for building a new Square at Westminster," which he strongly opposed. His grievance seems to have been that the proposed alteration would have entailed the destruction of his prebendal house. The scheme was, however, abandoned. Another was " The Ornaments of Churches considered, with a particular view to the late decorations in the Parish Church of St. Margaret." Nothing is known of his work as a clergyman, but he seems to have been a learned and worthy man. He was a benefactor to the funds of the Manx Church, and, during the time of the famine in 1740 and 1741 it was chiefly due to his exertions that corn was allowed to be exported to the island. The initiation of the clergy's " Widows and Orphans' Fund," in 1750, was also due to him, and, in 1774, he, aided by some friends, purchased the impropriate tithes of Kirk Michael, the proceeds of which were devoted to the same object.

(Partly from the Memoirs of Bishop Hildesley, pp. 267-70 )

see also

C.L.S. Linnell The Diaries of Thomas Wilson DD London:SPCK 1964