Alexander Stephen Wilson was born on the 4th April 1826, in the parish
of Rayne, Aberdeenshire. His father, who rented a farm, having been
killed by a fall from his horse, the subject of this sketch was brought
up from infancy under the care of his maternal grandfather. In his
boyhood he attended school during winter, and in summer was employed as
a cow-herd. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a land-surveyor,
with whom he served five years. With a native turn for versifying, he
early invoked the muse, and contributed poetry to the public journals.
At the close of his apprenticeship, he established a debating club among
the young men in the district of Rayne, and subsequently adventured on
the publication of a monthly periodical. The latter, entitled _The Rural
Echo_, was almost wholly occupied with the ingenious projector's own
compositions, both in prose and poetry, and commanded a wide
circulation. Devoted to metaphysical inquiries, Mr Wilson has latterly
turned his attention to that department of study. He has likewise been
ardent in the pursuit of physical science. An ingenious treatise from
his pen on the nature of light, published in 1855, attracted no
inconsiderable notice, and is strongly indicative of original power. He
has latterly resided in Perth, holding the appointment of assistant
civil engineer.