Henry Wilson (1797-1866) lived at Stowlangtoft on an estate purchased by his father in 1825 for £90,000 (about £8m in today’s money). He served as a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk, and in 1835 was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for the Western Division of Suffolk, the only Liberal ever elected for this two-member constituency. He was defeated at the General Election two years later and never stood for Parliament again. In 1845, he was appointed High Sheriff of Suffolk. He married twice and had twelve children. He was patron of St James’s Church, Bury St Edmunds, with responsibility for appointing the Vicar, and also of Stowlangtoft, in which capacity he appointed John Henry Newman’s friend, Samuel Rickards, as Rector.