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Name: WILSON, John Plowright

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Nee: son of John Thomas Wilson of Glasgow

Birth Date: 28.12.1867 Bridgeton, Glasgow, Lanark

Death Date: 19.7.1911 Newtonmore, Inverness, shot to brain

Nationality: British

First Date: 1891

Last Date: 1911

Profession: Joined Uganda Protectorate Administration Service.

Area: Uganda

Married: In Dunipace 27 Feb 1889 Mary Ferguson b. 1869 Dunipace, Stirlingshire

Children: John (1889 Dunipace)

Book Reference: Gillett, Matson, EAHB 1905, North, EA Diary 1903, IBEA, EAS, EAHB 1906, UJ, EAHB 1904, Web

General Information:

EAHB 1905 - IBEA Co. General Africa Staff - appointed 20th December 1890. Entered the service of the Uganda Protectorate from the IBEA Protectorate as Asst. Collector, April 1st 1893; Collector Aug. 1st 1895; Sub-Commissioner, July 29th 1899; IBEA Co's Medal, Uganda 1891-92; E. and C. Africa Medal, Uganda, 1897-98
North - IBEA Co. - arr. Kampala Dec 1891; Storekeeper & Accountant; Kampala 17/1/1893; Entebbe March 1893; joined UP when it formed 1/4/1893; District Officer at Fort George, Katwe on Lake Edward 1894; Appt. 3rd Class Asst. UP 30/8/1894; in charge of Toro Oct. Dec 1894; Appt. 2nd Class Asst. UP 27/8/1896; based Naivasha Aug 1897; based at Mombasa in charge of transport & stores for Indian Contingent in UP Oct 1898; on way to Kakamega Jan 1899; promoted to 1st Class Asst. 29/7/1899; based Nakuru May 1901; Sub-Comm. Mau District Nakuru Dec 1901; Listed as Collector, Unyoro April 1902; Acting Sub-Commissioner Unyoro, resident at Nimule Dec 1903, Oct 1904; Invalided to England, chronic colitis 1/5/1905; 'He is not up to the standard of the present day Administration …. should be retired' (George Wilson, CO 536) 24/10/1905; Forced to resign, end of appt. 12/1/1906
IBEA Co. - Nominal List of British Born Subjects resident in IBEA Territories within the Sultans Domain, 30 April 1891 - J.P. Wilson, Scotland, Office, Mombasa
EAS - 15/1/1903 - Nairobi Races - Entries - Xmas Handicap - Afmadu - J. Wilson & O. Tonks
EAS - 15/1/1903 - Nairobi Races - Entries - East African Stakes - Afmadu - J. Wilson & O. Tonks
Uganda Journal - Vol 20 (1956), 210 - The Wilsons of early Uganda by H.B. Thomas - J.P. Wilson joined the IBEA Company 20 December 1890. He is probably "another European assistant" with Captain Eric Smith's party (Macdonald, 'Soldiering and Surveying, 1897, p.121) which reached Kampala on 6 December 1892. Certainly he was at Kampala in March 1893 on the arrival of Sir Gerald Portal, who engaged him as storekeeper and accountant for the new Uganda Government service on the eve (31 March 1893) of taking over from the Company. He did good work under Captain Macdonald in the Muhammadan insurrection led by Selim Bey in June 1893 (Macdonald, op.cit.) for which his name was brought to the notice of the Foreign Office (Blue Book. Africa. No. 2 (1894), p.25). He was at Fort Raymond (Mityana) in October 1893 (Bovill and Askwith, 'Roddy Owen', 1897, p. 131), but being detailed as storekeeper at Entebbe, did not advance with the force against Kabarega. Colonel Colvile sent him to Toro as officer-in-charge: and, escorted by Major G. Cunningham, he reached Fort George, at the Katwe salt lake, on 19 August 1894 (Blue Book. Africa. No. 7 (1895), p. 128-9). He was still in Toro in April 1895 when he received news of the execution in the Congo Free State (on 15 January 1895) of Charles Stokes (Blue Book. Africa. No 8 (1896)). He was in charge of Naivasha station (then in Uganda) when the Sudanese mutiny broke out in September 1897, but was not directly engaged in the operations. He retired from the Uganda service as sub-Commissioner in January 1906; and died 19 July 1911.
Web DNW - Retired from the Uganda service on a pension in January 1906. Wilson died at the Balavil Hotel, Newtonmore, on 19 July 1911, the cause of death being given as brain injury, the result of being shot with a revolver.
Matson - 1897 - 2nd Class at Naivasha. Joined IBEA Co. 1890; storekeeper on arrival at Kampala Dec. 1891, 2nd Class assistant, Uganda Govt 1893; Toro 1894; Naivasha Jan. 1897
Web DNW - John Plowright Wilson was born in about 1867, the son of John Thomas Wilson, Goods Superintendent of the North British Railway Company, of Pollockshields, Glasgow. He joined the Imperial British East Africa Company on 20 December 1890, and reached Uganda in December 1891 where he was placed in charge of stores at Kampala. In the Colonial Office List, and other sources, Wilson is shown as having been awarded the Imperial British East Africa Company’s Medal for services during the Ugandan civil war of 1891-92, and is confirmed on the roll for that medal.
Wilson was at Kampala in March 1893, on the arrival of Sir Gerald Portal who engaged him as Storekeeper and Accountant for the new Uganda Government service on the eve of taking over from the I.B.E.A. Company. He did good work under Captain J. R. L. MacDonald in the Muhammadan insurrection led by Selim Bey in June 1893; a good account of these troubles is given in Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa 1891-94 by MacDonald. His name was brought to the notice of the Foreign Office in a despatch from MacDonald to Sir Gerald Portal, dated Kampala, 26 June 1893, and forwarded to the Earl of Rosebery and published in a Blue Book, Africa No. 2 (1894), which was presented to both Houses of Parliament in March 1894.
Wilson was at Fort Raymond, Mityana, in October 1893, but being detailed as Storekeeper at Entebbe, did not advance with the force against Kabarega. He was subsequently sent to Toro as officer-in-charge, and, escorted by Major G. Cunningham, reached Fort George at the Katwe Salt Lake on 19 August 1894. Wilson was still at Toro in April 1895 when he received news of the execution, at Lindi in the Congo Free State, on 15 January 1895, of Charles Henry Stokes, a British Subject engaged in trading with natives and Arabs, who had been charged with selling arms, powder and caps. This subject is dealt with at length in another Blue Book, Africa No. 8 (1896), in ‘Papers relating to the Execution of Mr. Stokes in the Congo State’, and presented to both Houses of Parliament in August 1896.
Wilson was promoted Collector in August 1895. He was in charge of Naivasha station, then in Uganda, when the Sudanese mutiny broke out in September 1897, and received the medal for his services in Uganda in 1897-98. He was appointed a Sub-Commissioner in July 1899, and retired from the Uganda service on a pension in January 1906. Wilson died at the Balavil Hotel, Newtonmore, on 19 July 1911, the cause of death being given as brain injury, the result of being shot with a revolver.
Uganda Journal - The Wilsons of Early Uganda - In a note at UJ 20 (1956), 211 it was suggested that it was Captain W. Wilson of the IBEA Company who had accompanied the caravan which arrived in Kampala on 9 December 1891. This identification was largely based upon an illustration in Ashe's 'Chronicles of Uganda' p. 359 titled 'W. Wilson of IBEA Co. …'
Mr A.T. Matson of Kapsabet, Kenya has been good enough to tell me that, when examining Foreign Office papers (FO2/93) in the Public Record Office he came upon a reference, dealing with officer's leave arrangements, which sets out that J.P. Wilson reached Uganda in December 1891. From this it follows almost certainly that 'a new assistant, Mr Wilson' referred to by Lugard (Rise ii, 291) as being in Kampala in January 1892 must be J.P. And not W. Wilson. This conclusion is reinforced by Lugard's remark that he was 'in charge of stores' for J.P. Wilson was taken over from the Company by Sir Gerald Portal in March 1893 as storekeeper and accountant. There is accordingly little ground for believing that Captain W. Wilson ever reached Uganda; Ashe's caption is probably incorrect.
 

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