General John Wilson was born in Calcutta in 1814 and was the nephew of the inventor of waterproof cloth, Charles Macintosh. Educated at Addiscombe, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the 26th Madras N.I. in December 1832. Promoted to Captain in November 1846, he took part with the Regiment in the landing at Moulmein on 5.4.1852 and, advancing in land with a Wing of the Royal Irish and a Wing of the South Staffords, participated in the capture of Martaban, which the 26th Madras N.I. afterwards garrisoned. Wilson subsequently rose to the rank of full General, despite declining a command in India offered by Lord Cross in 1872. He died at Salisbury on 18.5.1891, aged 77 years.