Alexander Wilson

Mjesto: Paisley

Rođen: 1766

Smrt: 1813

Biografija:

Alexander Wilson was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator. Identified by George Ord as the "Father of American Ornithology", Wilson is regarded as the greatest American ornithologist prior to Audubon.
Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland on July 6, 1766. He was apprenticed as a weaver in 1779.
While working as a weaver in Paisley, Wilson became seriously interested in poetry. He was inspired by the dialect verse of Robert Burns, who was only seven years older.
In addition to ballads and pastoral pieces, Wilson wrote satirical commentary on the conditions of weavers in the mills. His authorship of a satirical poem with severe personal statements about a mill owner resulted in Wilson's arrest. The work was publicly burned, and Wilson was sentenced to imprisonment. After his release, Wilson emigrated to America.
With a nephew, Wilson left Scotland in May 1794 at the age of 27, and settled in Pennsylvania. Opportunities were scarce for weavers in the Philadelphia area, and Wilson turned to teaching.
Wilson taught at the Milestown School in Bristol Township, the present-day East Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, for five years from 1796 to 1801. He then moved on to teach briefly in New Jersey.
Eventually, Wilson settled into a position at Gray's Ferry, Pennsylvania, and took up residence in nearby Kingsessing. There, he met the famous naturalist William Bartram, who encouraged Wilson's interest in ornithology and painting.
Resolved to publish a collection of illustrations of all the birds of North America, Wilson traveled widely, collecting and painting. He also secured subscribers to fund his work, the nine-volume American Ornithology (1808–1814). Of the 268 species of birds illustrated in its pages, 26 had not previously been described.
Wilson died on August 23, 1813. He was buried in Philadelphia at Gloria Dei Church cemetery.
His death came before the completion of the ninth volume of American Ornithology, which was finished and published by Wilson's friend and patron George Ord. Ord was buried not far away in the same cemetery.
In Paisley, a statue of Wilson was erected on the grounds of Paisley Abbey. A memorial on the banks of River Cart, near the Hammills rapids and waterfall, commemorates Wilson's connection to that city. The memorial is inscribed "Remember Alexander Wilson 1766–1813. Here was his boyhood playground."
A genus of warblers, Wilsonia (now obsolete), was named for Wilson by Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Several species of bird were also named in honor of Wilson, including the Wilson's storm-petrel, Wilson's plover, Wilson's phalarope, Wilson's snipe, and Wilson's warbler.
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology and the Wilson Ornithological Society also bear his name.
American Ornithology, Vol. 1, Plate 1
Illustration from American Ornithology
Wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia)
Wilson's gravestone in Philadelphia
Memorial in Paisley near the River Cart

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