[Wilson, Horace Hayman], Orientalist, born in London; studied medicine; went to India as a surgeon; mastered Sanskrit, and became Boden professor at Oxford (1786-1860).
[Wilson, John], Indian missionary, born near Lauder, educated at Edinburgh; missionary at Bombay from 1828 to his death—from 1843 in connection with the Free Church of Scotland; from his knowledge of the languages and religions of India, and his sagacity, was held in high regard (1804-1875).
[Wilson, John], the well-known "Christopher North," born in Paisley, son of a manufacturer, who left him a fortune of £50,000; studied at Glasgow and Oxford; a man of powerful physique, and distinguished as an athlete as well as a poet; took up his abode in the Lake District, and enjoyed the society of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey; wrote two poems, the "Isle of Palms," and the "City of the Plague"; lost his fortune, and came to settle in Edinburgh; was called to the Scottish bar, but never practised; became editor of Blackwood's Magazine, and was in 1820 elected over Sir William Hamilton professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh University; his health began to fail in 1840; resigned his professorship in 1851, and received a pension from the Crown of £300; he is described by Carlyle as "a tall, ruddy, broad-shouldered figure, with plenteous blonde hair, and bright blue flashing eyes, and as he walked strode rapidly along; had much nobleness of heart, and many traits of noble genius, but the central tie-beam seemed always wanting; a good, grand ruined soul, that never would be great, or indeed be anything" (1785-1854).
[Wilton], market-town in Wiltshire, 3 m. NW. of Salisbury; was the ancient capital of Wessex, and gave name to the county; its church, erected by Lord Herbert of Lea in 1844, is a rich Lombardic structure, with a campanile 108 ft. high.
[Wiltshire] or Wilts (264), an inland county in SW. of England, with Gloucestershire on the N. and Dorset on the S., 54 m. from N. to S. and 37 m. from E. to W.; is largely an agricultural and pastoral county; is flat, rising into hills in the N., and is broken by downs and rich valleys in the S., except on Salisbury Plain; sheep-breeding and dairy-farming are the chief industries, and it is famous for cheese and bacon.
[Wimbledon] (25), a suburb of London, 7½ m. to the SW., on a common used by the volunteers from 1860 to 1889 for rifle practice.
[Winchester] (19), an ancient city of Hampshire, and the county town, 60 m. SW. of London, on the right bank of the Itchen; is a cathedral city, with a noted large public school; was at one time the capital of England; the cathedral dates from the 11th century, but it has subsequently undergone considerable extensions and alterations; the school was founded by William of Wykeham in 1387.
[Winckelmann, Johann Joachim], great art critic, born at Stendal, in Prussian Saxony, of poor parents; was a student from his boyhood, and early devoted especially to archæology and the study of the antique; became a Roman Catholic on the promise of an appointment in Rome, where he would have full scope to indulge his predilections, and became librarian to Cardinal Albani there; his great work was "Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums" (the "History of Ancient Art"), in particular that of Greece, which proved epoch-making, and the beginning of a new era in the study of art in general; he was assassinated in a hotel at Trieste on his way to Vienna by a fellow-traveller to whom he had shown some of his valuables, and the German world was shocked (1717-1768).
[Windermere], a lake on the borders of Westmorland and Lancashire, the largest in England, 10½ m. long from N. to S., and 1 m. broad; is 240 ft. deep and 134 ft. above sea-level; is amid beautiful scenery, and near it is Rydal Mount, long the residence of Wordsworth.
[Windham, William], English statesman, born of an ancient Norfolk family; was opposed to the American War; took part in the impeachment of Warren Hastings; was Secretary at War under Pitt; advocated the removal of Catholic disabilities, but was opposed to Parliamentary reform; has been described by his contemporaries as the model both physically and mentally of an English gentleman, able and high minded (1780-1810).