James Wilson was born in 1805 in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. He left Scotland and moved to London where he was an opponent of the Corn Laws, and entered the Westminster parliament as a Liberal member of the Commons for Westbury, Wiltshire in 1847.

By the time he had entered the Commons, he had (in 1843) already established The Economist, a publication that is still printed today . He also rose to office as a MP, becoming financial secretary to the Treasury, vice-president of the board of trade as well as a member of the Council of India.

Wilson died in 1860.