Robert Willson

Robert William Willson (1794 – 30 June 1866) was an English Roman Catholic bishop and the first Bishop of Hobart. Born in Lincolnshire in 1794, Willson spent 18 years as a priest in Nottingham and became known for his work in prisons and asylums. He was selected as the first Bishop of Hobart in 1842. Following his move to Australia, he became known for his social reform efforts, including his work as a campaigner against convict transportation and his advocacy for improved conditions in insane asylums. He died during a visit to England in 1866.

Early life Robert Willson was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in 1794. He was the son of a builder named William James Willson and his wife Clarissa . After leaving school, he spent time working on a farm in Nottinghamshire.

Career

In 1816 Willson began studying at the Catholic seminary Oscott College. He was ordained on 16 December 1824 and spent 18 years as a priest in Nottingham, where he spent time working in prisons and asylums. Finding that the majority of Tasmania's Catholics were convicts, many of them Irish, Willson became an advocate for reform of the system of convict transportation.

After visiting the remote penal station on Norfolk Island in 1846, Willson returned to London to testify before the House of Lords about the harsh conditions on the island. He told the committee that he regarded transportation as "a terrible mode of punishment". Following another visit to Norfolk Island in 1852, he recruited the Bishop of Maitland, Charles Davis, and the colony's Lieutenant-Governor, William Denison, to join him in petitioning the British government to close the prison on the island. These efforts eventually contributed to the penal station's closure. His remains were ultimately returned to Tasmania in 2017.