The Right Reverend

Cecil Wilson
Bishop of Bunbury
Wilson c. 1900
ChurchAnglican Church of Australia
ProvinceWestern Australia
DioceseBunbury
In office1918–1937
Other post(s)Bishop of Melanesia (1894–1911)
Orders
Ordination1886 (deacon); 1887 (priest)
Consecration11 June 1894
Personal details
Born(1860-09-09)9 September 1860
Canonbury, London, England
Died20 January 1941(1941-01-20) (aged 80)
Perth, Western Australia
DenominationAnglicanism
Spouse
Ethel Julius
​
(m. 1899)​
Relatives
Personal information
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm spin
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1882–1890Kent
FC debut12 June 1882 Kent v Yorkshire
Last FC21 July 1890 Kent v Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 33
Runs scored 1,193
Batting average 23.86
100s/50s 1/8
Top score 127
Balls bowled 366
Wickets 5
Bowling average 44.40
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/2
Catches/stumpings 28/–
Source: CricInfo, 14 October 2023

Cecil Wilson (9 September 1860 – 20 January 1941) was an English county cricketer and Anglican bishop. He was the third missionary Anglican Bishop of Melanesia from 1894 to 1911,[1] and subsequently, the second Bishop of Bunbury from 1918 to 1937.

Early life and family

Wilson was born at Canonbury in London,[2] the youngest son of stockbroker Alexander Wilson and his wife Caroline (née Pitman).[3][4][5] The family moved from Islington to Beckenham in Kent in 1873 and Wilson, like two of his older brothers, was educated at Tonbridge School. He played cricket in the school XI between 1877 and 1879, captaining the team in his final year at school, before going up to Jesus College, Cambridge.[3][4][6] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in divinity in 1883 and Master of Arts in 1886.[7]

On 1 February 1899, Wilson married Alice Ethel Julius, the second daughter of Bishop Julius, at ChristChurch Cathedral. The couple had two daughters.[3][5][8]

Cricket

Despite his success as a school cricketer, Wilson did not play for Cambridge University Cricket Club―his Wisden obituary says that he was unable to accept an offered Blue in 1883 "because of an engagement to travel abroad"[6]―although he played some cricket for university sides and captained Jesus College in 1882.[3] He played club cricket for Beckenham and made his first-class cricket debut for Kent County Cricket Club in 1882 whilst still at Cambridge, playing in seven top-level matches during the season and scoring 299 runs. He scored 62 not out in his second match for the county, a County Championship fixture against Sussex, made scores of 57 and 50 against the touring Australians during Canterbury Cricket Week, and was awarded his county cap.[3][6][9]

Primarily a batsman, Wilson played for Kent in each of the following five seasons before returning to play his final two matches for the county in 1890. He made 28 appearances for Kent, as well as playing two first-class matches for I Zingari and three for MCC.[2][3] A right-handed batsman, Wilson was considered a "fine batsman" who Wisden said "drove hard and scored rapidly when set".[6] He scored a total of 1,193 runs in first-class matches, including one century,[10] a score of 127 made against Yorkshire at Canterbury in 1886.[3] He took five wickets with his right-arm spin bowling[3][10] and was considered a fine fielder who "earned a reputation for fast, accurate returns to the wicket-keeper".[6]

Wilson's brother, Leslie Wilson, also played first-class cricket for Kent, making 105 top-level appearances for the side between 1883 and 1897.[6][11]

Ecclesiastical career

Wilson was ordained by Harold Browne, Bishop of Winchester, as a deacon in 1886, and as a priest the following year. He was in charge of St Faith's mission, in the parish of Portsea, Portsmouth, until 1891.[12] Between 1891 and 1894, he held the incumbency at St John's Moordown, Bournemouth.[5]

In 1894, Wilson was chosen to succeed John Selwyn as Bishop of Melanesia. He left England for New Zealand in April, and was consecrated at St Mary's Cathedral, Auckland, on 11 June 1894.[5] He launched the fifth Southern Cross mission ship in 1903,[1] and advocated for the movement of the centre of Anglican life in Melanesia to the Solomon Islands from Norfolk Island.

Unwilling, however, to himself move to the Solomons, in 1911 he was appointed rector of St Andrew's Church, Walkerville and Archdeacon of Adelaide, South Australia,[13] which posts he held until his Bunbury appointment in 1918.

Wilson is listed in the Calendar of Saints of the Church of the Province of Melanesia.

Wilson died at Perth, Western Australia in 1941 at the age of 80.[10]

Publications

  • Wilson, Cecil (1932). The Wake of the Southern Cross: Work and Adventure in the South Seas. London: John Murray.

References

  1. 1 2 Lawrence, David Russell (October 2014). "Chapter 5 Liberalism, Imperialism and colonial expansion" (PDF). The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific. ANU Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN 9781925022032.
  2. 1 2 Cecil Wilson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 October 2022. (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 594–595. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 21 December 2020.)
  4. 1 2 Steed HE (ed) (1911) The Register of Tonbridge School, p. 168. London: Rivingtons. (Available online at the Internet Archive. Retrieved 14 October 2023.)
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The Right Rev. Cecil Wilson". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]. Christchurch: Cyclopedia Company. 1902. p. 220. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wilson, The Right Rev. Cecil, DD, Obituaries in 1941, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1942. (Available online at CricInfo. Retrieved 14 October 2023.)
  7. ↑ "Wilson, Cecil (WL879C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  8. ↑ "The social sphere". New Zealand Observer and Free Lance. 28 January 1899. p. 8. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Bishop Wilson". Quorn Mercury. South Australia. 4 November 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. 1 2 3 Cecil Wilson, CricInfo. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  11. ↑ Leslie Wilson, CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 October 2022. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ Malden Richard (ed) (1920). Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn). London: The Field Press. p. 209.
  13. ↑ "Appointment of Dr Wilson". The Chronicle (Adelaide). Vol. LIII, no. 2, 745. South Australia. 1 April 1911. p. 38. Retrieved 18 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
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