William Wilson of Carmyllie (1808-1888) was born in Westruther, Berwickshire in 1808, the son of Andrew Wilson, shepherd, and Agnes Rutherford. He was licensed in 1833 and moved to Glasgow as a parochial missionary, working in the Gorbals. He was called to be minister at Carmylie in 1837, and while there he accepted the editorship of the only church newspaper, the Scottish Guardian.
After the Disruption, he left the Church of Scotland and joined the Free Church. He was forced to hold services for his fellow Free Church adherents in whatever accommodation he could find, including barns and even the open air. Having left his manse, he was provided with rent-free accommodation in Westhaven by one of his supporters. In 1848 he was appointed the minister of the Mariners' Church, which subsequently became St. Paul's Free Church, Dundee. He built up a large congregation and a new church was erected in 1852.
Wilson and his wife had a family of eight, the first being born at Carmyllie in 1841 and the last in Dundee in 1855. His wife died, aged only 41 in 1860, leaving him with eight children under twenty at Heathfield House, with two female servants to assist him.