Identity:

Henry Francis Wilson was a barrister and civil servant. He married Isabella Dora Smart (d. 1935) in 1902.

Life:

Wilson studied law and was called to the bar in 1888. Soon afterwards he commenced a career in the civil service, chiefly as a legal advisor in the Colonial Office. He was appointed Secretary of the Trinidad Judicial Enquiry Commission in 1892 and was Secretary of the Orange River Colony in South Africa from 1902-07. Other posts included that of Secretary of the Royal Colonial Institute (1915-21). He was knighted in 1908. He was in correspondence with JW in 1885 whilst a student at Cambridge. As Vice-President of the university Fine Art Society he invited JW to a social event at his rooms after JW gave the Ten O'Clock Lecture at the Theatre Royal, Cambridge on 11 March (#07075).

Bibliography:

Foster, Joseph (ed.), Alumni Oxoniensis 1715-1886, Oxford, 1887-1892; Who Was Who, 1929-1940, London.