 "James Wilson")
In May 2019, a 12-foot statue was reinstalled in Hawick, a small Scottish town with population below 14,000. Sculpted in 1863 in Edinburgh by John Steell, Queen Victoria’s official sculptor, it came from a single block of carrara marble. So restored to a due honour was James Wilson, the first finance member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, who presented India’s first Budget in 1860.
Born into a Quaker family in 1805, fourth among 15 siblings, Wilson wanted to study law, but the Quaker tradition frowned upon the profession. He became an apprentice to a hat manufacturer, spending his nights reading economics and other subjects. Wilson’s father, a woollen manufacturer, purchased the firm for him and a brother. Having outgrown Hawick, the
