Surname: Wilson Forename(s): John b. 18 May 1785. d. 1 April 1854. Nationality: Scottish. VIAF.
Advocate, poet, author, critic, and journalist. Born in Paisley. Educated at Magdalen
College, Oxford. Won the first Newdigate prize for poetry in 1806. Moved to the Lake
District in 1805 in order to be near Wordsworth, with whom he became close friends
and through whom he met and befriended Coleridge and De Quincey. Wrote for and edited
Blackwood’s Magazine under the pseudonym “Christopher North” (although this pseudonym was also used by
other contributors). Served as professor of moral philosophy and political economy
at the University of Edinburgh from 1820 to 1851. Poetry volumes include The Isle of Palms and other Poems (1812) and The City of the Plague (1816). Biographical information: ODNB. (JS, AC)