Wilson, Adam, 1909-1988

Adam Wilson (10 March 1909-11 December 1988) was born in Edinburgh. His family were strong Baptists. He was apprenticed as a joiner/woodworker. Encouraged by his father, John Christie Wilson, to persue a career as a missionary, Adam Wilson attended the All Nations Bible College in London to train for missionary work in Africa. There he met Dr McLeod who persuaded him to try the John G. Paton mission in the New Hebrides. Reverend Adam Wilson arrived at the Tangoa Teacher Training Institute on Santo, New Hebrides, on 26 July 1934 where he worked as an "artisan missionary" helping to look after the Presbyterian Mission's infrastructure as well as teaching. Wilson also edited the Mission journal, Quarterly jottings from the New Hebrides. He married Christina Alexander Wrighton (29 January 1904-12 January 1969; born in Overtown, Scotland) at Reverend Frank Paton's manse in Melbourne on 11 March 1935. Christina was a nurse by profession. It is likely that Wilson was a coastwatcher, possibly based in Santo, responsible to the Australian Navy for providing information on the Japanese if they arrived in the New Hebrides before the Americans. Wilson left the New Hebrides Presbyterian Mission in 1947 when it was considered that his practical skills were no longer a priority.

From the description of Correspondence from the Presbyterian Mission at Tangoa, Santo, New Hebrides (Vanuatu), 1935-1947 [microform]. [1935-1947] (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 654594367

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