Wilson, Joshua (1795-10-27 - 1874-08-14)

Joshua Wilson was born in London on 27 October 1795 to Thomas Wilson (1764-1843), benefactor, and Elizabeth Clegg. He studied law at the Inner Temple and pursued a career as a barrister. He married Mary Wood (née Bulley) in 1837, with whom he had at least two children, Thomas and John Remington. He collected works of protestant theology, hagiography, and dissenting history, and published three religious treatises: “An Historical Inquiry Concerning…English Presbyterians” (1835), “English Presbyterian Chapels…Orthodox Foundations” (1844), and “Calumnies Confuted…in Answer to the Quarterly Review on the Bicentenary Celebration” (1863). Wilson was the founding patron and donor of the Congregational Library (now houses in Dr Williams’s Library), to which he made a foundation donation of 4000 volumes. He died at Tunbridge Wells, Kent on 14 August 1874.