Edward Francis Wilson

The Rev Edward Francis Wilson (7 December 1844 – 11 May 1915) was a prominent Canadian Anglican missionary and clergyman in the second half of the 19th century.

Life Edward Francis Wilson (also known as E.F. Wilson) was born in Islington, England on December 7, 1844, to Daniel Frederick Wilson and Lucy Sarah Atkins. His grandfather was Daniel Wilson the Church of England Bishop of Calcutta. Wilson was born into the British upper-middle class and was well acquainted with the Evangelical community in England.

Wilson emigrated to Canada in 1865 with ambitions of becoming a farmer. However, upon his arrival he studied at Huron College in London, Ontario with the ambition of becoming a missionary in Canada. He was ordained as a deacon on December 22, 1867, by the Bishop of London at the Chapel Royal in England. He returned to Huron as part of the Church Missionary Society. Wilson met his wife Frances (Fanny) Spooner in 1863 and they were married on June 3, 1868. They went on to have eleven children. While working in this region Wilson established a network of Anglican catechists to help him with his work. He also established a sewing circle focused on using English fabrics and patterns.

In 1871 Wilson moved to the Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation region. He was the founding principal of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School from 1873 until 1892 when he retired from missionary work and moved to British Columbia. He was also responsible for the construction of schools in Batchawana Bay, Nipigon, Elkhorn, Manitoba (Washakada Home for Girls and Kasota Home for Boys), and Medicine Hat.

In 1894 he moved to Salt Spring Island and worked as a pastor to the white local community. He died in Victoria, British Columbia in 1915.

A cairn commemorating Wilson and his work with the Shingwauk Home currently sits on the front lawn of Algoma University.

Publications In addition to his missionary work Wilson was a prolific writer and was also responsible for the publication of a number of missionary journals. His work typically appeared under his own name. However, in the 1890s articles appeared in the Canadian Indian under the pen name Fair Play which are believed to have also been written by Wilson.

Our Forest Children, contributor and publisher (1887–1890) Canadian Indian, editor and contributor (1890–1891) Algoma Missionary News and Shingwauk Journal, editor and contributor (1876–1889)

The Object of the Bible (1914)