繁體中文
衛奕信（David Wilson，全銜 Baron Wilson of Tillyorn）1935年2月14日在蘇格蘭阿洛厄出生，父親是牧師威廉·斯金納·威爾遜，是外交官與漢學家，長期研究中國事務。他早年就讀格蘭納蒙的三一書院，其後獲獎學金入讀牛津大學基布爾學院，1958年加入英國外交部，1960年首次來港，並在香港大學進修中文，其後再赴北京深造，能操流利普通話，是當時少數通曉中文的英國外交官，他本人亦向來喜愛遠足。1963年他獲派往北京，任職英國駐華代辦處，親歷中國的政治運動，其後也曾派駐其他地區，至1977至1981年出任港督政治顧問。1984年《中英聯合聲明》簽署後，他獲委任為中英聯合聯絡小組英方首席代表，統籌香港前途談判後的過渡事務。他原譯中文名魏德巍，1987年出任港督前改譯為衛奕信。1987年4月，他接替尤德爵士出任第二十七任香港總督，是首位能講普通話的港督；他與妻子娜塔莎·亞歷山大於1967年結婚，育有兩名子女。他在上任前獲冊封為爵士，並且是香港歷史上最後一位穿着傳統官服宣誓就職的港督。他任內負責落實《中英聯合聲明》的過渡安排，並於1989年的施政報告中提出在大嶼山赤鱲角興建新機場、總值逾千億港元的「新機場及港口發展策略」（俗稱「玫瑰園計劃」，即後來的香港機場核心計劃）。計劃因造價高昂且跨越九七，引起中方不滿，令中英就新機場財務安排展開多年爭拗，直至1991年9月雙方簽署諒解備忘錄才稍有進展。1989年北京事件後，香港人心浮動，出現信心危機與移民潮，他任內力求穩定社會情緒。1990年4月《基本法》頒布；1991年立法局首次引入地區直選議席，共產生十八名直選議員，同年通過《香港人權法案條例》，將人權保障寫入本地法例。他亦要處理越南船民問題，先於1988年推行遣返未獲難民資格者的政策，復於1991年10月展開「有秩序遣返計劃」，分批遣返滯港船民，惟因船民不滿而多次在難民營爆發暴動。他同時推動房屋、教育與福利改革，任內亦擴建機場、醫院及學校等設施。1992年7月他離任，由彭定康接任；同年他獲封終身貴族，成為蒂利安男爵，其後在上議院仍多次就香港及中國事務發言；卸任後他於1993至2000年出任蘇格蘭水電公司（後併為蘇格蘭及南方能源）主席，並曾任愛丁堡皇家學會會長。橫跨香港島、九龍與新界八個郊野公園、全長約78公里的衛奕信徑於1996年啟用，是香港第二長的長途遠足徑，以他命名，以表揚他對香港郊野與遠足的貢獻。
English
David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, was born in Alloa, Scotland, on 14 February 1935, the son of the Rev William Skinner Wilson, and is a diplomat and sinologist well versed in Chinese affairs. Educated at Trinity College Glenalmond, he won a scholarship to Keble College, Oxford, joined the Foreign Office in 1958, first came to Hong Kong in 1960, and studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong and later in Beijing, becoming one of the few British diplomats who spoke fluent Mandarin; he was also a lifelong keen hiker. In 1963 he was posted to Beijing to work at the British mission there, witnessing China's political campaigns, and later served elsewhere before becoming Political Adviser to the Governor from 1977 to 1981. After the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984 he became Britain's first chief representative on the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, coordinating the transitional arrangements after the talks on Hong Kong's future. His Chinese name was originally rendered Wei Dewei and was changed before he took office. In April 1987 he succeeded Sir Edward Youde as the 27th Governor of Hong Kong, the first governor able to speak Mandarin; he had married Natasha Alexander in 1967 and they had two children. He oversaw implementation of the Joint Declaration's transitional arrangements and in his 1989 policy address proposed building a new airport at Chek Lap Kok on Lantau, the New Airport and Port Development Strategy (the Rose Garden Project, later the Airport Core Programme), worth more than HK$100 billion; because it was costly and spanned 1997 it drew objections from Beijing and led to years of dispute over its financing, until a memorandum of understanding was signed in September 1991. After the events in Beijing in 1989 Hong Kong saw a crisis of confidence and an emigration wave, and he sought to steady public sentiment. The Basic Law was promulgated in April 1990; in 1991 the Legislative Council introduced its first eighteen directly elected seats and passed the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, writing human-rights protection into local law. He also dealt with the Vietnamese boat people, first adopting a policy in 1988 of repatriating those without refugee status and then launching an orderly repatriation programme in October 1991 to send boat people home in batches, which sparked repeated riots in the camps. He advanced housing, education and welfare reform and expanded the airport, hospitals and schools during his term. He left office in July 1992, succeeded by Chris Patten, and was made a life peer as Baron Wilson of Tillyorn the same year, later speaking on Hong Kong and China in the House of Lords; after retiring he chaired Scottish Hydro-Electric (later Scottish and Southern Energy) from 1993 to 2000 and served as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The roughly 78-kilometre Wilson Trail, opened in 1996 and crossing eight country parks on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, is named after him, honouring his contribution to the countryside and to hiking. He was knighted shortly before taking office and was the last governor to be sworn in wearing traditional ceremonial dress.
