Isaac Wilson was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 industrialist and Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

Wilson was born in Kendal

Kendal

Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

, Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

, the son of Isaac Wilson and Mary Jowitt. He was related to the Pease family

Pease family (Darlington)

The Pease family was a prominent English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington and County Durham and descended from Joseph Pease of Darlington, son of Edward Pease . They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in...

 and in 1841 went to Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 where he managed a pottery in Commercial Street. Later, with Edward Gilkes, he established the Tees Engine Works at the corner of Commercial Street and Grey Street. The firm manufactured locomotives and other products for railway engineering on Teesside and in 1865, merged into a larger concern known as Hopkins, Gilkes & Co. Wilson was also a director of the Stockton and Darlington Railway

Stockton and Darlington Railway

The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...

. In 1850 he moved to Nunthorpe Hall. He contributed to the building of a school for 35 children in Nunthorpe

Nunthorpe

Nunthorpe is a small outer suburb of the town of Middlesbrough, England. Nunthorpe is served by Nunthorpe and Gypsy Lane railway stations, both of which are on the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby...

 in 1855 and was largely responsible for its maintenance

Wilson became involved in local politics and in 1854 became Mayor of Middlesbrough. He was elected at a by-election in July 1878

Middlesbrough by-election, 1878

The Middlesbrough by-election, 1878 was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 July 1878 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the British House of Commons constituency of Middlesbrough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.- Vacancy :...

 as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough (UK Parliament constituency)

Middlesbrough is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

, and held the seat until he stood down from the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 at the 1892 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1892

The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...

. He was President of the Teesside Chamber of Commerce from 1879 to 1887.

After Wilson's death aged 77, Nunthorpe Hall was occupied by Joseph Albert Pease  MP.

Wilson was fiercely anti-drinking but is commemorated by the Isaac Wilson public house in Middlesbrough.

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