Biographical entry: Wilson, Cecil (1860 - 1941)
- Born
- 1860
- Died
- 1941
Details
The third Bishop of the Diocese of Melanesia, Cecil Wilson was born in London in 1860, youngest son of Alexander Wilson. He was educated in Tonbridge School in Kent and received a B.A. from Jesus College, Cambridge in 1883, and a Doctor of Divinity in 1908. He was ordained deacon in 1886 and priest in 1887. Wilson was curate of Portsea in Portsmouth (1886-1891) and Vicar of Moordown, Bournemouth (1891-1894). He was selected as the new Bishop of Melanesia by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev. Robert Codrington (q.v.), and Bishop John Selwyn (q.v.), consecrated in Auckland and installed at Norfolk Island on 29 June 1894. Between the resignation of Bishop Selwyn in 1891 and the arrival of Wilson, John Palmer acted as Administrator of the Diocese. In 1899, Wilson married Alice E. (née Julius), daughter of the Bishop of Christchurch in New Zealand.
Wilson was bishop at the time that the Catholic Mission (q.v.) returned to the Solomon Islands on Guadalcanal in 1898, that the Queensland Kanaka Mission (q.v.) (later the SSEM [q.v.]) arrived, and the Methodist Mission (q.v.) and the Seventh-day Adventists (q.v.) established their bases in the Western Solomons and on Malaita. His policy was to withdraw from some islands where another denomination had established a mission, which meant that new schools at New Georgia, Vella Lavella and Choiseul were closed. This withdrawal from the Western Solomons was also necessitated by the large numbers of people returning to Malaita from Queensland, and affirmed by Resident Commissioner Woodford's (q.v.) comity of mission's policy. Although this was a sensible sharing of resources, it led to a segmenting of Christianity in the Protectorate. Wilson rationalised the Melanesia Mission's resources, bought land at Maranatabu and Kumaigola on Isabel, built major schools at Bungana, Pamua and Maravovo, and built hospitals. The first hospital was built on Guadalcanal, and later transferred to Fauabu on Malaita. Wilson continued to build an indigenous ministry, and also established mission stations suitable for women missionaries. He advocated shifting the diocesan headquarters from Norfolk to Siota on Nggela, but in 1911 chose to resign because he was exhausted from his work and unwilling to bring his large family to the Protectorate. Wilson reorganised the Melanesian Mission, expanded the number of missionaries in both the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides and modernized many of the Mission's practices. Most importantly he encouraged clergy to spend more time in the field and not return to Norfolk Island for long periods. He commissioned Southern Cross V (q.v.), and consecrated new churches in the islands. He had generally robust health and was an ardent cricket and tennis player.
Wilson became Rector, Archdeacon and Assistant Bishop in Adelaide (1911-1917) and was elected Bishop of Bunbury in Western Australia (1917-1937). He remained there until his retirement, after which he moved to Perth and assisted the Archbishop. He wrote an account of his work as Bishop of Melanesia under the title The Wake of the Southern Cross (1932). Wilson died in Perth in 1941. (Bain BDACP; Fox 1958, 30, 40-54; Wilson 1912, 1932; Wilson 1915, 1927; Welsch 1998)
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Fox, Charles E., Lord of the Southern Isles: Being the Story of the Anglican Mission in Melanesia, 1849-1949, Mowbray, London, 1958. Details
- Wilson, Ellen, The Isles That Wait, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1915. Details
- Wilson, Ellen, Sketches from Life in Melanesia, Soceity for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1927. Details
Book Sections
- Wilson, Cecil, 'Cricket in the Solomon Islands', in Pelham F. Warner (ed.), Imperial Cricket, London & Counties Press Association, London, 1912, pp. 4219-427. Details
Edited Books
- Welsch, Robert L. (ed.), An American Anthropologist in Melanesia: A.B. Lewis and the Joseph N. Field South Pacific Expedition, 1909-1913, University of Hawai`i Press, Honolulu, 1998. Details
Web Pages
- Blain, Michael, The Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican Clergy in the South Pacific, Project Canterbury http://anglicanhistory.org/nz/blain_directory/, 2012. Details
Images
- Title
- Anglican Bishops Cecil Wilson, J.C. Patteson, C.J. Wood, G.A. Selwyn, J.R. Selwyn, L.M. Steward and F.M. Molyneux.
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1920s
- Source
- DOM
- Title
- Bishop Cecil Wilson and Hugo Hebalas's baby
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Bishop Wilson addressing the Vaukolu Assembly, Nggela Islands, 1906
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- DOM
- Title
- Bishop Wilson among the Buala Children, North-East Coast, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Bishop Wilson and Dr Wenchman at Mindoru, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Bishop Wilson and Party Farewelling, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Bishop Wilson and Party Farewelling, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Bishop Wilson talking to Vella Lavella People on board the Southern Cross, Vella Lavella Island (New Georgia Group)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia