William Wilson was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-born merchant and political figure in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. He represented Victoria City

Victoria City (provincial electoral district)

Victoria City was one of the first twelve provincial electoral districts in the province of British Columbia, Canada, upon its entry into Confederation that year. It was originally a four-member riding, and elected to the Legislature several prominent Members of the Legislative Assembly and...

 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

 from 1878 to 1882.

Wilson founded the Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

retail clothing firm of W & J Wilson Ltd. He was also involved in real estate speculation, mining and manufacturing of footwear. Wilson served on the city council for Victoria. He was defeated when he ran for reelection to the assembly in 1882. Wilson died in Victoria at the age of 84.