Charles William Wilson

Major-General Sir Charles William Wilson (14 March 183625 October 1905) was a British Army officer, geographer and archaeologist.

Early life and career He was born in Liverpool on 14 March 1836 to Edward Wilson, at one time High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire. He was the uncle of Edward Adrian Wilson, the polar explorer, through his elder brother, Edward Thomas Wilson.

He was educated at the Liverpool Collegiate School and Cheltenham College. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Engineers in 1855.

His first appointment was as secretary to the British Boundary Commission in 1858, whose duty it was to map the 49th 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. During the resulting search, he produced the most accurate map of Jerusalem and identified the eponymous Wilson's Arch but was unable to find a new source of water. 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".

In 1867, with the Palestine Exploration Fund, Wilson had a leading role in the PEF Survey of Palestine and conducted one of the first major Excavations at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In 1868 he joined the Ordnance Survey of Sinai. In 1872 he was elected to the Society of British Archaeology.

He served as director of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, an organization publishing texts and translations related to pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He was chairman of the Palestine Exploration Fund from 1901 until his death in 1905. In 1874 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the summer of 1882, he took part in Garnet Wolseley's expedition to put down the rebellion of Colonel 'Urabi. Other sources however, spread the blame, particularly on the commander, Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley who had already accused Wilson. The public in England also blamed Prime Minister William 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.

Ireland Wilson was appointed director of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland and was director-general from 1886 to 1894.

Later life From 1895 until his retirement in 1898, Wilson served as the director-general of military education.

He died on 25 October 1905 at Tunbridge Wells. A subsequent biography on Wilson, by Sir Charles 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".

Published work Good text scan, but with blurred illustrations and captions; or here, a darker scan, but with fully visible illustrations.