John Wilson

John Wilson (1785-1854), the well-known "Christopher North", was a Scottish author, born in Paisley, son of a manufacturer, who left him a fortune of £50,000. He studied at Glasgow and Oxford. He was a man of powerful physique, and distinguished as an athlete as well as a poet. He took up his abode in the Lake District, and enjoyed the society of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey. He wrote two poems, the "Isle of Palms," and the "City of the Plague". Having lost his fortune, he came to settle in Edinburgh. He was called to the Scottish bar, but never practised. Later, 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. He resigned his professorship in 1851, and received a pension from the Crown of £300. Carlyle described him 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".

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John Winthrop, John Witherspoon, John Wolcot, Johnny Appleseed, Johnny Bench