Reginald Victor (Vic) Wilson was born in Kent Town, South Australia and educated at Riverton and Whinham College, Adelaide. He became a businessman in Broken Hill (1898-1903 and 1906-09) and, later, in Adelaide. He was Mayor of St Peters, Adelaide (1916-17) and unsuccessfully contested two state elections, for the seat of Torrens (1912) and the seat of East Torrens (1918). 

Supported by the Farmers and Settlers' Association, Wilson was elected to federal Parliament as a Senator for South Australia at the December 1919 general election (term deemed to begin July 1920). He retained his seat until June 1926, although defeated at the December 1925 election.

In the Bruce-Page Coalition Government, Wilson was Honorary Minister responsible for immigration (1923-25), then Minister for Markets and Migration and ex officio Deputy President of the Commonwealth Board of Trade (1925-26). He was also a member of the Royal Commission on Cockatoo Island Dockyard (1921), the Select Committee on Claims of Captain J Strasburg for War Gratuity and the Wireless Agreement Committee (1921-22); a member of the Australian Delegation to the 1923 Imperial Economic Conference; and Commissioner of the Australian Section at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in London (1923-24). 

After leaving federal politics, Wilson moved to Sydney. He was President of the Motion Pictures Distributors' Association (1927-39), a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council (1938-46), Vice Chairman of the Royal North Shore Hospital Board (1938-57), Chairman of the National Press Pty Ltd, Sydney (publishers of Smiths Weekly) (1939-57) and a member (then Director) of the Australian General Insurance Company Board. 

Sir Victor Wilson was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1926 and died at Neutral Bay, Sydney in 1957.

Sources:

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 12 (1891-1939), pp 530-1
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook 1901-1920, p 320
Who's Who in Australia 1950, p 763

Summary heading

  Sir Reginald Victor Wilson (CP 184)

Unregistered links

  1921-1922:  Senate Select Committee on Claims of Captain J Strasburg for War Gratuity – Member

  1921-1922:  Wireless Agreement Committee - Member