Thomas Wilson
Thomas Wilson was Bishop of Sodor and Man between 1697 and 1755.
He was born in Burton in the Wirral, Cheshire, in December 1663. Having studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained a priest in 1689. In 1692 the Lord of Mann, William Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby, appointed him personal chaplain and tutor to the earl's son. Five years later, at Lord Derby's urging, Wilson accepted promotion to the vacant bishopric of Sodor and Man.
When he came to the Isle of Man, he found the buildings of the diocese in a ruinous condition. The building of new churches was one of his first acts, and he eventually rebuilt most of the churches of the diocese along with establishing public libraries. He oversaw the passing in the Tynwald of the Act of Settlement 1704 that provided tenants with rights to sell and pass on their land, subject only to continued fixed rents and alienation fees. Wilson worked to restore ecclesiastical discipline on the Island, although he clashed with civil authorities partly because of the reduction of revenue from Wilson mitigating fines in the spiritual court.
He was born in Burton in the Wirral, Cheshire, in December 1663. Having studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained a priest in 1689. In 1692 the Lord of Mann, William Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby, appointed him personal chaplain and tutor to the earl's son. Five years later, at Lord Derby's urging, Wilson accepted promotion to the vacant bishopric of Sodor and Man.
When he came to the Isle of Man, he found the buildings of the diocese in a ruinous condition. The building of new churches was one of his first acts, and he eventually rebuilt most of the churches of the diocese along with establishing public libraries. He oversaw the passing in the Tynwald of the Act of Settlement 1704 that provided tenants with rights to sell and pass on their land, subject only to continued fixed rents and alienation fees. Wilson worked to restore ecclesiastical discipline on the Island, although he clashed with civil authorities partly because of the reduction of revenue from Wilson mitigating fines in the spiritual court.
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