WILSON (Thomas), lord bishop of Sodor and Man, was born in 1663, at Burton, in the county of Chester. He received the rudiments of his education at the county town, and from thence was removed to the university of Dublin. His allowance at the university was 20l. a-year; a sum, small as it may now appear, which was in those days sufficient for a sober youth in so cheap a country as Ireland.
His first intention was to have applied to the study of physic; but from this he was diverted by archdeacon Hewetson, by whose advice he dedicated himself to the church. He continued at college till the year 1686, when, on the 29th of June, he was ordained deacon.
The exact time of Mr Wilson's leaving Dublin is not known: but on account of the political and religious disputes of those days, it was sooner than he intended. On the 10th of December in the same year, he was licensed to the curacy of New Church in Winwick, of which Dr Sherlock, his maternal uncle, was rector. His stipend was no more than 30l. a-year; but being an excellent economist, and having the advantage of living with his uncle, this small income was not only sufficient to supply his own wants, but it enabled him to supply the wants of others; and for this purpose he set apart one-tenth of his income.
In 1692 he was appointed domestic chaplain to William earl of Derby, and tutor to his son James Lord Strange, with a salary of 30l. a-year. He was soon after elected master of the alms-house at Latham, which brought him in 20l. a-year more. Having now an income far beyond his expectations, or his wishes, except as it increased his ability to do good, he set apart one fifth of his income for pious uses, and particularly for the poor. In short, as his income increased, he increased the portion of it which was allotted to the purposes of charity. At first he set apart a tenth, then a fifth, afterwards a third, and lastly, when he became a bishop, he dedicated the full half of his revenues to pious and charitable uses.
He had not been long in the service of Lord Derby, before he was offered the valuable living of Buddesworth in Yorkshire; which he refused to accept, as being inconsistent with the resolves of his conscience against non-residence, Lord Derby choosing still to retain him as chaplain, and tutor to his son. In 1697 he was promoted, not without some degree of compulsion on the part of his patron, to the bishopric of the Isle of Man; a preferment which he held 58 years. In 1698 he married Mary, daughter of Thomas Patten, Esq; of Warrington. By this lady, who survived her marriage about six years, he had four children; none of whom are living except Dr Wilson, prebendary of Westminster.
"The annual receipts of the bishopric (says the author of his memoirs) did not exceed 300l. in money. Some necessaries in his house, as spices, sugar, wine, books, &c. must be paid for with money; distressed or shipwrecked mariners, and some other poor objects, required to be relieved with money; but the poor of the island were fed and clothed, and the house in general
supplied from his demesnes, by exchange, without money. The poor, who could weave or spin, found the best market at Bishop's-court, where they bartered the produce of their labour for corn. Tailors and shoemakers were kept in the house constantly employed, to make into garments or shoes that cloth or leather which his corn had purchased; and the aged and infirm were supplied according to their several wants. Mr Moore of Douglas informed the editor, that he was once witness to a pleasing and singular instance of the Bishop's attention to some aged poor of the island. As he was distributing spectacles to some whose eyesight failed them, Mr Moore expressed his surprise, as he well knew not one of them could read a letter. "No matter, (said the Bishop with a smile) they will find use enough for them; these spectacles will help them to thread a needle, to mend their clothes, or, if need be, to keep themselves free from vermin."
The year 1720 brings us to a remarkable epocha in the life of this zealous and worthy Bishop; the history of which will be best related in the biographer's own words. "The suspended person alluded to in the Bishop's charge of June the 9th, 1720, was no less a person than Mrs Horn, wife of Captain Horn, governor of the island. In the year 1719, she accused Mrs Puller, a widow woman of fair character, of fornication with Sir James Pool; and from this story, to please Mrs Horn, archdeacon Horrobin refused Mrs Puller the sacrament. Uneasy under this restriction, she had recourse to the mode pointed out by the constitutions of the church to prove her innocence, namely, by oath; which she and Sir James Pool took before the Bishop, with compurgators of the best character; and no evidence being produced to prove their guilt, they were by the Bishop cleared of the charge; and Mrs Horn was sentenced to ask pardon of the parties whom she had so unjustly traduced. This she refused to do; and treated the Bishop and his authority, as well as the ecclesiastical constitutions of the island, with contempt. For this indecent disrespect to the laws of the church, the ecclesiastical censure was pronounced, which banished her from the sacrament till atonement was made. The archdeacon, who was chaplain to the governor, out of pique to the Bishop, or from some unworthy motive, received her at the communion, contrary to the custom and orders of the church. An insult to himself the Bishop would have forgiven, but disobedience to the church and its laws he could not allow of. He considered it as the oblation of wrath, rather than the bond of peace, and at last suspended the archdeacon. The archdeacon in a rage, instead of applying to the archbishop of York as metropolitan, and consequently the proper judge to appeal to in matters relating to the church, threw himself on the civil power; and the governor, under pretence that the Bishop had acted illegally and extrajudicially, fined him 50l. and his two vicars-general, who had been officially concerned in the suspension, 20l. each. This fine they all refused to pay, as an arbitrary and unjust imposition: upon which the governor sent a party of soldiers; and they were, on the 29th of June 1722, committed to the prison of Castle Rushin, where they were kept closely confined, and no persons admitted within the walls to see or converse with them." The Bishop was confined in this prison two months, and
shire, released at the end of that time upon his petition to the king and council."
So great was the Bishop's attachment to his flock, that no temptation could seduce him from their service. He more than once refused the offer of an English bishopric. There is an anecdote of his Lordship and cardinal Fleury, which does great credit to them both. The cardinal wanted much to see him, and sent over on purpose to inquire after his health, his age, and the date of his consecration, as they were the two oldest bishops, and he believed the poorest, in Europe; at the same time inviting him to France. The Bishop sent the cardinal an answer, which gave him so high an opinion of him, that the cardinal obtained an order that no French privateer should ravage the Isle of Man.
This good prelate lived till the year 1755, dying at the advanced age of 93. His works have lately been published in 2 vols. 4to.