Edward Francis Wilson
{{Infobox clergy
| honorific_prefix = Rev
| name = Edward Francis Wilson
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Reverand Edward Francis Wilson headshot.jpg
| image_size = 200 px
| alt =
| caption = Rev. E.F. Wilson, circa 1880
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1844|12|7}}
| birth_place = Islington, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|05|11|1844|12|7}}
| death_place = Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada
| death_cause =
| nationality = British, Canadian
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| education =
| alma_mater = Huron College
| occupation = missionary
| years_active =
| religion =
| spouse = Frances Spooner
| children =
| parents = Daniel Wilson and Lucy Sarah Atkins
| relations =
| church = Church of England, Anglican Church of Canada
| ordained = 1867 December 22
| writings =
| congregations =
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}}
The Rev Edward Francis Wilson (7 December 1844 – 11 May 1915) was a prominent Canadian Anglican missionary and clergyman in the second half of the 19th century.
Life
Edward Francis Wilson (also known as E.F. Wilson) was born in Islington, England on December 7, 1844 to Daniel Frederick Wilson and Lucy Sarah Atkins.{{cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wilson_edward_francis_14E.html|title=Wilson, Edward Francis|last1=Nock|first1=David A.|date=1998|website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography|publisher=University of Toronto|access-date=April 13, 2016}} His grandfather was Daniel Wilson the Church of England Bishop of Calcutta. Wilson was born into the British upper-middle class and was well acquainted with the Evangelical community in England. Three of his sisters married clergymen and one of his brothers also served as a member of the clergy.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rE09DgAAQBAJ&q=A+white+Man%E2%80%99s+Burden:+A+Portrait+of+E.+F.+Wilson,+Missionary+in+Ontario,+1868-1885,&pg=PA8|title=A Victorian Missionary and Canadian Indian Policy: Cultural Synthesis vs Cultural Replacement|last=Nock|first=David|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=9780889206649|pages=12–20|language=en}}
Wilson emigrated to Canada in 1865 with ambitions of becoming a farmer. However, upon his arrival he studied at Huron College in London, Ontario with the ambition of becoming a missionary in Canada. He was ordained as a deacon on December 22, 1867 by the Bishop of London at the Chapel Royal in England. He returned to Huron as part of the Church Missionary Society.{{Cite news|url=https://www.sootoday.com/columns/remember-this/remember-this-shingwauk-residential-school-310964|title=Remember This? Shingwauk Residential School|work=SooToday.com|access-date=2018-02-20|language=en}} Wilson met his wife Frances (Fanny) Spooner in 1863 and they were married on June 3, 1868. They went on to have eleven children.
Wilson's early missionary work under the Church Missionary Society was focused on conversion of Indigenous peoples in Southwestern Ontario to the Anglican faith. This work was with Indigenous communities in Sarnia, Kettle Point, and Saint Claire First Nation. He also worked with the communities at Sauble, Cape Croker, and New Credit.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rE09DgAAQBAJ&q=A+white+Man%E2%80%99s+Burden%3A+A+Portrait+of+E.+F.+Wilson%2C+Missionary+in+Ontario%2C+1868-1885%2C&pg=PA8|title=A Victorian Missionary and Canadian Indian Policy: Cultural Synthesis vs Cultural Replacement|last=Nock|first=David|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|isbn=9780889206649|pages=12|language=en}} While working in this region Wilson established a network of Anglican catechists to help him with his work. He also established a sewing circle focused on using English fabrics and patterns.{{Cite web|url=http://www.huronresearch.ca/confrontingcolonialism/edward-f-wilsons-manual-for-missionaries/|title=Edward F. Wilson's Manual for Missionaries {{!}} Confronting Colonialism: Land, Literacies & Learning|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-23}}
In 1871 Wilson moved to the Sault Ste. Marie and Garden River First Nation region. He was the founding principal of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School from 1873 until 1892 when he retired from missionary work and moved to British Columbia.{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward F. |date=1886 |title=Missionary Work Among The Ojebway Indians |url=http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.09290 |location=London |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge}} He was also responsible for the construction of schools in Batchawana Bay, Nipigon, Elkhorn, Manitoba (Washakada Home for Girls and Kasota Home for Boys), and Medicine Hat.{{Cite book|title=From Teaching Wigwam to Shingwauk University|publisher=Shingwauk Project|year=1992|location=Algoma University, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada|pages=4}}
In 1894 he moved to Salt Spring Island and worked as a pastor to the white local community. He died in Victoria, British Columbia in 1915.
A cairn commemorating Wilson and his work with the Shingwauk Home currently sits on the front lawn of Algoma University.
Publications
In addition to his missionary work Wilson was a prolific writer and was also responsible for the publication of a number of missionary journals. His work typically appeared under his own name. However, in the 1890s articles appeared in the Canadian Indian under the pen name Fair Play which are believed to have also been written by Wilson.
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_25984|title=The Ojebway language: a manual for missionaries and others employed among the Ojebway Indians|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|publisher=Printed by Rowsell and Hutchison for the Venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London|year=1874|location=Toronto|isbn=9780665259845 }}
- {{Cite book|url=http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.64280|title=Shingwauk Hymn Book|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|publisher=Shingwauk Home|year=1877|location=Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/missionaryworkam00wilsuoft|title=Missionary Work Among the Ojebway Indians|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|publisher=Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge|year=1886|location=London}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_17382|title=Report on the Sarcee Indians|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|year=1888|location=London|isbn=9780665173820 }}
- {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_35577|title=Our Indians in a New Light: A Lecture on the Indians|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|publisher=Printed by Holloway Bros|year=1890|location=Halifax, Nova Scotia|isbn=9780665355776 }}
- Our Forest Children, contributor and publisher (1887-1890)
- Canadian Indian, editor and contributor (1890-1891)
- Algoma Missionary News and Shingwauk Journal, editor and contributor (1876-1889)
- {{Cite book|title=Salt Spring Island, British Columbia|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|publisher=Colonist Press|year=1895|location=Victoria}}
- {{Cite book|url=https://saltspringarchives.com/wilson.pdf|title=Autobiographical Journal: From Barnsbury, England to Barnsbury, Canada, 1868-1908|last=Wilson|first=Edward F.|year=1908|location=Salt Spring Island, British Columbia}}
- The Object of the Bible (1914)
Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://archives.algomau.ca/main/node/20115 Edward F. Wilson fonds]
- [http://archives.algomau.ca/main/node/19882 Shingwauk Indian Residential School fonds]
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Category:English Anglican missionaries
Category:Anglican missionaries in Canada