Part 455 (1/2)

WILLIS, PARKER, American writer and journalist; had travelled much abroad, and published his experiences; among his writings ”Pencillings by the Way,” ”Inklings of Adventure,” ”People I have Met,” &c. (1806-1867)

WILLOUGHBY, SIR HUGH, early Arctic voyager; was sent out in 1553 with three vessels by a company of London merchants on a voyage of discovery, but the vessels were separated by a storm in the North Seas, and not one of them returned, only Richard Challoner, the captain of one of them, found his way to Moscow, and opened up a trade with Russia and this country; the s.h.i.+ps, with the dead bodies of their crews, and the journal of their commander, were found by some fishermen the year after.

WILLS, WILLIAM JOHN, Australian explorer, born at Totnes; accompanied O'Hara Burke from the extreme S. to the extreme N. of the continent, but died from starvation on the return journey two days before his leader (1834-1860).

WILMINGTON (61), a large and handsome city and port in Delaware, 25 m. SW. of Philadelphia, with extensive manufactures; also the name of the largest city (20) in North Carolina, with considerable manufactures and trade; was a chief Confederate port during the Civil War.

WILSON, ALEXANDER, ornithologist, born at Paisley; son of a weaver, bred to the loom; began his literary career as a poet; imprisoned for a lampoon on a Paisley notability, went on his release to America unfriended, with only his fowling-piece in his hand, and a few s.h.i.+llings in his pocket; led an unsettled life for a time; acquired the arts of drawing, colouring, and etching, and, so accomplished, commenced his studies on the ornithology of America, and prevailed upon a publisher in Philadelphia to undertake an exhaustive work which he engaged to produce on the subject; the first volume appeared in 1808, and the seventh in 1813, on the publication of which he met his death from a cold he caught from swimming a river in pursuit of a certain rare bird (1766-1813).

WILSON, SIR DANIEL, archaeologist, was born in Edinburgh, became in 1853 professor of English Literature at Toronto; wrote ”Memorials of Edinburgh,” ”Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,” ”Prehistoric Man,” &c.

(1816-1892).

WILSON, SIR ERASMUS, English surgeon, a great authority on skin diseases, and devoted much time to the study of Egyptian antiquities; it was at his instance that the famous Cleopatra's Needle was brought to England; he was liberal in endowments for the advance of medical science (1809-1884).

WILSON, GEORGE, chemist, born in Edinburgh, younger brother of Sir Daniel; was appointed professor of Technology in Edinburgh University; was eminent as a popular lecturer on science, and an enthusiast in whatever subject he took up (1819-1859).

WILSON, HORACE HAYMAN, Orientalist, born in London; studied medicine; went to India as a surgeon; mastered Sanskrit, and became Boden professor at Oxford (1786-1860).

WILSON, JOHN, Indian missionary, born near Lauder, educated at Edinburgh; missionary at Bombay from 1828 to his death--from 1843 in connection with the Free Church of Scotland; from his knowledge of the languages and religions of India, and his sagacity, was held in high regard (1804-1875).

WILSON, JOHN, the well-known ”Christopher North,” born in Paisley, son of a manufacturer, who left him a fortune of 50,000; studied at Glasgow and Oxford; a man of powerful physique, and distinguished as an athlete as well as a poet; took up his abode in the Lake District, and enjoyed the society of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey; wrote two poems, the ”Isle of Palms,” and the ”City of the Plague”; lost his fortune, and came to settle in Edinburgh; was called to the Scottish bar, but never practised; became editor of _Blackwood's Magazine_, and was in 1820 elected over Sir William Hamilton professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh University; his health began to fail in 1840; resigned his professors.h.i.+p in 1851, and received a pension from the Crown of 300; he is described by Carlyle as ”a tall, ruddy, broad-shouldered figure, with plenteous blonde hair, and bright blue flas.h.i.+ng eyes, and as he walked strode rapidly along; had much n.o.bleness of heart, and many traits of n.o.ble genius, but the central _tie-beam_ seemed always wanting; a good, grand ruined soul, that never would be great, or indeed _be_ anything”

(1785-1854).

WILTON, market-town in Wilts.h.i.+re, 3 m. NW. of Salisbury; was the ancient capital of Wess.e.x, and gave name to the county; its church, erected by Lord Herbert of Lea in 1844, is a rich Lombardic structure, with a campanile 108 ft. high.

WILTs.h.i.+RE or WILTS (264), an inland county in SW. of England, with Gloucesters.h.i.+re on the N. and Dorset on the S., 54 m. from N. to S.

and 37 m. from E. to W.; is largely an agricultural and pastoral county; is flat, rising into hills in the N., and is broken by downs and rich valleys in the S., except on Salisbury Plain; sheep-breeding and dairy-farming are the chief industries, and it is famous for cheese and bacon.

WIMBLEDON (25), a suburb of London, 7 m. to the SW., on a common used by the volunteers from 1860 to 1889 for rifle practice.

WINCHESTER (19), an ancient city of Hamps.h.i.+re, and the county town, 60 m. SW. of London, on the right bank of the Itchen; is a cathedral city, with a noted large public school; was at one time the capital of England; the cathedral dates from the 11th century, but it has subsequently undergone considerable extensions and alterations; the school was founded by William of Wykeham in 1387.

WINCKELMANN, JOHANN JOACHIM, great art critic, born at Stendal, in Prussian Saxony, of poor parents; was a student from his boyhood, and early devoted especially to archaeology and the study of the antique; became a Roman Catholic on the promise of an appointment in Rome, where he would have full scope to indulge his predilections, and became librarian to Cardinal Albani there; his great work was ”Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums” (the ”History of Ancient Art”), in particular that of Greece, which proved epoch-making, and the beginning of a new era in the study of art in general; he was a.s.sa.s.sinated in a hotel at Trieste on his way to Vienna by a fellow-traveller to whom he had shown some of his valuables, and the German world was shocked (1717-1768).