Sir Charles Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1836-03-14)14 March 1836 Liverpool |
| Died | 25 October 1905(1905-10-25) (aged 69) Tunbridge Wells |
| Years of service | 1855–1898 |
| Rank | Major-general |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Commands | Ordnance Survey |
| Battles / wars | |
| Spouse(s) | |
Major-GeneralSir Charles William WilsonKCB KCMG FRS FRGS (14 March 1836 – 25 October 1905) was aBritish Army officer, geographer and archaeologist.
He was born inLiverpool on 14 March 1836. He was educated at theLiverpool Collegiate School andCheltenham College. He attended theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned as an officer in theRoyal Engineers in 1855.[1]
His first appointment was as secretary to the British Boundary Commission in 1858, whose duty it was to map the49th parallel between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. He spent four years in North America, during which time he documented his travels in a diary, the transcription of which can be found in "Mapping the Frontier" edited by George F. G. Stanley.[1]
In 1864 he started working on theOrdnance Survey of Jerusalem funded by the wealthyAngela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts whose primary motivation was to find better drinking water for those living in the city.[2] During the resulting search, he produced the most accurate map of Jerusalem and identified the eponymousWilson's Arch but was unable to find a new source of water.[3][1] According to a book published in 2013, "Wilson was the first to pay proper scholarly attention to the stonework of the Haram el-Sharif (Temple Mount) walls when [conducting] the first comprehensive mapping of the Old City (theOrdnance Survey of Jerusalem)".[4][5] Over a century after Wilson's work,The Jerusalem Post commented that his efforts "on the Jerusalem Ordnance Survey served as the basis for all future Jerusalem research".[6]
In 1867, with thePalestine Exploration Fund, Wilson had a leading role in thePEF Survey of Palestine and conducted one of the first majorExcavations at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In 1868 he joined theOrdnance Survey of Sinai. In 1872 he was elected to theSociety of British Archaeology.
He served as director of thePalestine Pilgrims' Text Society, an organization publishing texts and translations related to pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He was chairman of thePalestine Exploration Fund from 1901 until his death in 1905.[1][6]
After returning home, Wilson was appointed to theOrdnance Survey of Scotland in 1867[1] and also acted as Assistant Commissioner on the Borough Boundary Commission.[7] In 1874 he became aFellow of the Royal Society.[1][7] He became director of the topographical department at theBritish War Office and assistantquartermaster-general in theBritish Intelligence Department. In 1876 he received anOrder of the Bath. He then headed the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.[1]
From 1879 to 1882, he wasconsul-general inAnatolia and travelled extensively in Turkey.[7] In the summer of 1882, he took part inGarnet Wolseley's expedition to put down therebellion ofColonel 'Urabi.[1] During that time, he edited the multi-volume setPicturesque Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt.
From 1884 to 1885, Wilson, with a rank of Colonel, took part in theKhartoum Relief Expedition, commanded byGarnet Wolseley. He was intelligence officer attached to the Desert Column led bySir Herbert Stewart.
Desert Column was ordered to strike from Korti, across the Bayuda Desert, to Metemma where Gordon's armed steamers were awaiting them. Wilson's orders were to embark one of the steamers and reach Khartoum where he could confer with Gordon "both upon the military and upon the political position". After that he was to return to Metemma and report to Wolseley.He was also ordered to parade small detachment of British soldiers in traditional red tunics, to boost morale of the defenders, but not to leave any of them in Khartoum.
After Stewart was mortally wounded just beforethe Battle of Abu Kru, Wilson, an intelligence officer with little combat experience, suddenly found himself in command of the whole Desert Column, about 1,400 men. Under his command the British square wonthe Battle of Abu Kru and reached Nile.
On 21 January near Metemma they linked with Gordon's steamers.
After making necessary preparations for the safety of Desert Column left at Metemma, Wilson and his party of 28 British soldiers and officers (and some 150 natives) boarded two of Gordon's steamers,Talahawiyeh andBordein, and started for Khartoum on 24 January.
The small convoy reached Khartoum in the afternoon of 28 January 1885. It came two days too late: Khartoum had been seized by the Mahdists in the early hours of 26 January. Between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants were slaughtered, among them Major-GeneralCharles George Gordon.On return to MetemmaTalahawiyeh struck rock and sunk;Bordein also struck rock but was beached at Mernat island. After several tense days Wilson and his party were saved byCaptain Charles Beresford aboard armed steamer Safieh.Wilson received criticism afterwards for his delay in sailing to Khartoum, with one author stating that he had "lost any nerve he had ever possessed".[8] Other sources however, spread the blame, particularly on the commander,Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley who had already accused Wilson.[9] The public in England also blamed Prime MinisterWilliam Gladstone for not having taken steps to relieve the siege of Khartoum and some historians have held Major-General Gordon responsible, because he had refused the order to evacuate while that was still possible.[10]
Wilson was appointed director of theOrdnance Survey in Ireland and wasdirector-general from 1886 to 1894.
From 1895 until his retirement in 1898, Wilson served as thedirector-general of military education.[7]
He was the editor of "Handbook for Travellers in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, etc." in 1895. In the book, he gave encyclopedic information about the societies in Anatolia, Kurdistan, Transcaucasia, Syria, Mesopotamia and Iran and many settlements in this geography.[11]
He died on 25 October 1905 atTunbridge Wells.[12] A subsequent biography on Wilson, by SirCharles Moore Watson, said that he "probably did more than any other man to increase the knowledge of the geography and archeology of Asia Minor, Palestine and the adjacent countries".[6]
Works by or aboutCharles William Wilson atWikisource