Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

James George Wilson was born on 23 March 1882 in London, England, the son of John Henry Wilson and his second wife, Mary Ann née Lee. John Henry Wilson, a hairdresser and perfumier, married firstly Caroline Mosley who died shortly after the birth of their only child, John William Wilson. He married Mary Ann Lee in 1871 in London. They had two children born in Scotland – Julia in 1872 and Alphonso Henry in 1873. There followed Thomas Alfred in 1878, James George in 1882 and Walter Francis in 1884, all born in London. In 1891, James was at home in London with his mother (married, wife), sister Julia and brothers Alphonso and Walter. No sign of John Henry, John William or Thomas Alfred. The only family member identified in 1901 and 1911 is Walter who was serving with the navy.

In 1905, James George Wilson was at Fairlie, South Canterbury, where he was a station hand. His brother Thomas, a cook, was there too in 1908. “At the plain and fancy dress ball at Fairlie last week the following wore striking fancy costumes: —Jack Sutherland, King Edward IV.; Jim Wilson, Sundowner; Dan Cole, Tea Planter; . . . .” [Timaru Herald. 19 August 1911.] Was this James George Wilson? James moved to Wellington, perhaps in about 1911, certainly by 1914.

Under the banner “CALL TO ARMS”, the Evening Post of 19 March 1915 printed “the complete list of names of those in No. 5 Group (Wellington City and Suburbs) who have applied for service abroad with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force since the introduction of the new recruiting system on 15th February last”. This list included James George Wilson (bushman). He enlisted on 24 July 1915 at Trentham. A bushman for Blackball Coal Co, Wellington, single and of Church of England affiliation, he was residing at 21 Bolton Street, Wellington. He, too, named his sister as next-of-kin – Mrs Julia Keating, 46 Langdon Road, Junction Road, Highgatel, London, England. He had first named his brother – Thomas A. Wilson, P. O. Box 130, Fairlie, South Canterbury.

Sergeant J. G. Wilson embarked with the Otago Mounted Rifles of the 5th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt. The hospital report published in the newspapers in early October 1917 stated that his was not a severe case. Draft No. 156, which was bringing home 526 soldiers, J. G. Wilson 9/1135 among them, was due in New Zealand in May 1919. He was discharged on 6 June 1918, no longer physically fit for war service (multiple tumours of skin of face).

James engaged in farm work for a few years, moving to Opotiki in the early 1920s. In the 1930s he turned to painting. He died on 24 April 1957 at Opotiki, aged 75 years, and was buried in the military section of Opotiki Cemetery. His brother, Thomas Alfred Wilson, who had also come to New Zealand, served with the New Zealand Forces in the War. James Keating, the husband of their sister Julia and father of two boys, served with the Royal Engineers and was discharged in 1917, being no longer physically fit because of neurasthenia. Alphonso Henry Wilson, who was born in 1873, died in 1932. Sapper Alphonso H. Wilson served in France with the Royal Engineers in World War One. Walter Francis Wilson, the youngest of the family, was born in 1884 and served with the Royal Navy from 1900 and throungh the War. When Walter married in 1912, his father was not recorded as deceased. Lieutenant Walter Francis Wilson died in 1921 in London but of Portsmouth. A note attached to the Find A Grave record reads “He was accepted as a casualty of the Great War on 5th July 2013.”

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [21 May 2022]; England census returns 1881, 1891 (ancestry.com.au) [20 May 2022]; Family records (ancestry.com.au) [20 May 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [20 & 21 May 2022]; Opotiki Cemetery headstone image & burial records (opotikicemeteries) [21 May 2022]; Timaru Herald, 19 August 1911, Evening Post19 March 1915, 16 April 1918, NZ Times, 3 October 1917, 17 April 1918 (Papers Past) [21 & 22 May 2022]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.