John Wilson (c.1828-1905)
c.1828 Born in Paisley, son of James Wilson.
1851 Married Mary Reid in Govan[1]
1861 John Wilson 33, Manufacturer Of Iron Tubes (employing 30 Men & 30 Boys) , lived in Govan with his son James Wilson 9[2]
1861 Married Mary Gemmell[3]
1881 John Wilson 53, Justice Of The Peace, Iron Tube Manufacturer, Brassfounder & Merchant, lived in Govan with Mary G Wilson 45, Jane S Wilson 25, Mary Wilson 18, Mathew G Wilson 16, John Wilson 10[4]
1891 John Wilson M P 63, iron tube manufacturer, lived in Hillhead House, Govan with Mary Wilson 55, John Wilson Junr 19, Winnifred M Osborne 5, Granddaughter, and Mary Gray 20 Visitor[5]
by 1892 he was described as head of the firm Wilson and Son, iron tube makers and brass founders, of Glasgow, and Thomas Robertson and Co of Montreal[6]
Obituary 1906 [7]
The death has taken place, in his seventy-eighth year, of John Wilson, founder of the tube manufacturing and brass founding firm of John Wilson and Sons, Glasgow and Govan, and one time member for the Govan division of Lanarkshire. The event took place at his home, Hillhend House, Glasgow, on the 29th ult., and it was not wholly unexpected, as Mr. Wilson's health had been unsatisfactory for several months. He was born at Paisley, and his parents both died while he was yet a boy; he then entered the office of a wholesale provision merchant in Glasgow, and after a time that of the tube manufacturing firm of Crichton and Eadie. A few years thereafter he started business in a small way on his own account in the same line, and in 1850 he established brass foundry works at Oxford-street, Glasgow. In 1880, he opened another, and the better-known, works of John Wilson and Sons, at Govan. In 1898 the joint stock concern of Wilson's and Union Tube Company Limited, Govan Tube Works, and the Union Tube Company, Coatbridge, was registered. Two of Mr. Wilson's sons are on the directorate, Mr. Matthew G. Wilson, who is the chairman, and Mr. John Wilson. Several years ago Mr. Wilson retired from the active management o£ the tube-making concern, and also from the firm of John Wilson and Son, hydraulic and general engineer, Vulcan Works, Johnstone. He was heavily involved in the disastrous failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878, and as a member of the liquidation committee did beneficent service. Throughout life he took a keen interest in public affairs, and held many offices. In 1889 he was returned as Member of Parliament for the Govan division of Lanarkshire, a constituency which he continued to represent until the General Election of 1901, immediately prior to which he retired from Parliament. He is survived by his wife, three sons, and two daughters, the elder of whom is the wife of Sir· William Collins, the London surgeon , and the chairman of the London County Council.