Daniel Wilson (1790 - 2 September 1849) was a Scottish chemist and engineer.
Born in Glasgow, he left Scotland after brilliant chemistry studies for Dublin then London in 1817 in the home of Aaron Manby (1776âÂÂ1850), also an engineer, who headed the Horseley steel factory. Manby supplied the Gas Light and Coke Company. In 1819 Wilson and Manby decided to move to France under the restored Bourbon monarchy to supply the new French gas industry.
The two men became business associates and in 1822 set up the Forges de Charenton before buying the Forges du Creusot in 1826. Both these companies went bankrupt in 1833 after the Trois Glorieuses and the financial crisis caused by it. In 1825 they and Jean Henry set up a company in the Ternes district near Paris to supply gaslights in the capital - this proved a financial success.
On 25 June 1835 in Paris Wilson married Antoinette Henriette Casenave, daughter of Antoine Casenave She was from a family of magistrates and parliamentarians. They had three children in the old 2nd arrondissement of Paris - Marguerite on 24 May 1836, Marie-Anne Berthe on 23 July 1838 and Daniel junior on 6 March 1840.
Casenave died in Paris on 5 August 1843, followed by her second child Marie-Anne Berthe Wilson on 21 February 1845 in Paris and finally Daniel senior in his château d'ÃÂcoublay in Fontenay-Trésigny on 2 September 1849.