James Wilson

Sir James Glenny Wilson (probably on 29 November 1849 – 3 May 1929) was a New Zealand politician and farmer.

Biography

Originally from Hawick, Roxburghshire in Scotland, Wilson was educated at Bruce Castle School, in London, and then at the Edinburgh Institution. He emigrated to Victoria in 1870 and worked on a sheep run. He met his future wife, Annie Adams, at the Melbourne Club. He went to New Zealand in January 1873 and purchased a large block of rough land in an area between what is now Bulls and Sanson in the Rangitikei district. Once established, he returned to Australia and married Annie Adams near Skipton, Victoria. The in the electorate was contested by six candidates, and he beat Charles Beard Izard, Walter Buller, George Russell, Alfred Newman, and W. France.

Wilson was knighted in 1915, and died at Bulls on 3 May 1929. He was the first president (1902–1920) of the Farmer's Union, now Federated Farmers. Ormond Wilson was his grandson. His Uncle was the MP James Wilson, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, founder of The Economist, and the chartered banks of India, Australia, and China.