Cecil Wilson (bishop of Bunbury)

Cecil Wilson (9 September 1860 – 20 January 1941) was an English county cricketer and Anglican bishop. He was the third missionary Anglican Bishop of Melanesia from 1894 to 1911,[1] and subsequently, the second Bishop of Bunbury from 1918 to 1937.

For the Bishop of Middleton, see Cecil Wilson (bishop of Middleton).

The Right Reverend

Cecil Wilson
Bishop of Bunbury
Wilson c. 1900
ChurchAnglican Church of Australia
ProvinceWestern Australia
DioceseBunbury
In office1918–1937
Other post(s)Bishop of Melanesia (1894–1911)
Orders
Ordination1886 (deacon); 1887 (priest)
Consecration11 June 1894
Personal details
Born(1860-09-09)9 September 1860
Canonbury, London, England
Died20 January 1941(1941-01-20) (aged 80)
Perth, Western Australia
DenominationAnglicanism
Spouse
Ethel Julius
​
(m. 1899)​
Relatives

Early life and family

Wilson was born at Canonbury in London,[2] the youngest son of Alexander Wilson.[3] He was educated at Tonbridge School, and went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Arts in divinity in 1882 and Master of Arts in 1885.[4][3]

On 1 February 1899, Wilson married Alice Ethel Julius, the second daughter of Bishop Julius, at ChristChurch Cathedral.[3][5]

Cricket

After having played cricket at school, Wilson later played first-class cricket, playing in 28 matches for Kent County Cricket Club between 1882 and 1890. He was awarded his county cap in 1882 and also played in three first-class matches for MCC and two for I Zingari.[2] A right-handed batsman, he scored a total of 1,193 runs in first-class matches, including one century,[6] and in 1882 scored a half-century in each innings against the touring Australian team.[7] He took five wickets and is known to have occasionally played as a wicket-keeper.[2]

Wilson's brother, Leslie Wilson, also played first-class cricket for Kent, making 105 top-level appearances for the side between 1883 and 1897.[8]

Ecclesiastical career

Wilson was ordained by Harold Browne, Bishop of Winchester, as a deacon in 1886, and as a priest the following year. He was in charge of St Faith's mission, in the parish of Portsea, Portsmouth, until 1891.[9] Between 1891 and 1894, he held the incumbency at St John's Moordown, Bournemouth.[3]

In 1894, Wilson was chosen to succeed John Selwyn as Bishop of Melanesia. He left England for New Zealand in April, and was consecrated at St Mary's Cathedral, Auckland, on 11 June 1894.[3] He launched the fifth Southern Cross mission ship in 1903,[1] and advocated for the movement of the centre of Anglican life in Melanesia to the Solomon Islands from Norfolk Island.

Unwilling, however, to himself move to the Solomons, in 1911 he was appointed rector of St Andrew's Church, Walkerville and Archdeacon of Adelaide, South Australia,[10] which posts he held until his Bunbury appointment in 1918.

Wilson is listed in the Calendar of Saints of the Church of the Province of Melanesia.

Wilson died at Perth, Western Australia in 1941 at the age of 80.[6]

Publications
  • Wilson, Cecil (1932). The Wake of the Southern Cross: Work and Adventure in the South Seas. London: John Murray.

References
  1. Lawrence, David Russell (October 2014). "Chapter 5 Liberalism, Imperialism and colonial expansion" (PDF). The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific. ANU Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN 9781925022032.
  2. Cecil Wilson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 October 2022. (subscription required)
  3. "The Right Rev. Cecil Wilson". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company. 1902. p. 220. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  4. "Wilson, Cecil (WL879C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. "The social sphere". New Zealand Observer and Free Lance. 28 January 1899. p. 8. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. Cecil Wilson, CricInfo. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  7. "Bishop Wilson". Quorn Mercury. South Australia. 4 November 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Leslie Wilson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 October 2022. (subscription required)
  9. Malden Richard (ed) (1920). Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn). London: The Field Press. p. 209.
  10. "Appointment of Dr Wilson". The Chronicle (Adelaide). Vol. LIII, no. 2, 745. South Australia. 1 April 1911. p. 38. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
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