Wilson, Harry William

Harry William Wilson (October 24, 1852 - September 21, 1928) was an Episcopal pastor and map publisher based in Los Angeles. Wilson was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England in 1852. He joined received bachelor and master's degrees from Cambridge University (Jesus College) in 1876 and, after briefly serving as an assistant curate, attended the Ely Theological College. He afterwards served as a cleric, ascending through ranks (curate, vicar, rector) in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, and Middlesex. In 1891, at age 39, he relocated to Mile End in the East End of London and developed a reputation for working among the poor and laboring classes of the city, while also publishing some ten books on religious themes. Wilson married Annette Beatrice Flint in 1903. By 1906, the couple had relocated to the United States, with Wilson taking a clerical position in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1909, they had moved again to Los Angeles, settling in South Pasadena. Rev. Wilson became a well-known figure in religious circles, namely as a representative of Anglo-Catholicism, and served as editor of the publication American Catholic. In 1911, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson moved again, this time to Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. While on Catalina, in addition to serving as pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church (which, like much of Avalon, burned down in a fire in 1915), Wilson published a separate-issue map (Wilson's Map of Avalon and Catalina Island1913) and guidebook (Wilson's Guide to Avalon, 1913 and 1914 editions) of Catalina Island that were among the first available for the soon-to-be major tourist destination. By late 1913, the Wilsons had returned to the mainland and Rev. Wilson took up clerical duties at St. Mattias Church in the Pico-Union neighborhood. In 1917, Wilson gave up editorship of the American Catholic and 'went over' to Roman Catholicism, a shocking move to the journal's readers and the local Episcopal community. Afterwards, Wilson continued to write and published regularly, especially in The Tidings, the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He also established the Harry Wilson Magazine Agency to distribute Catholic publications. The last years of Wilson's life are a mystery; his writing dropped off and although his death is noted in official records, it seems no obituaries were published.