Leslie Wilson (politician)

Wilson was the son of Henry Wilson, a stockbroker, and his wife Ada Alexandrina (née Orme), and was educated at St Michael's School, Westgate, and St Paul's School, London.

Wilson married Winifred May, daughter of Charles Smith, of Sydney, Australia, in 1909.[1] They lived at the Manor House at Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire. They had three children, two sons and a daughter:

• Peter Leslie Orme, born 4 June 1910 in London,[2][3] farmer and grazier,[4][5] died 6 July 1980 aged 70 years in Queensland and buried in Caloundra cemetery[6]
• David Orme, who was killed on 30 November 1941 in North Africa during the Second World War[7]
• Marjorie Orme

On his retirement as Governor of Queensland, Wilson and his wife Winifred returned to live in Surrey, England.[8] However, they visited Queensland on a number of occasions, including the marriage of their son Peter.[9][10]

Wilson died after being hit by a truck while walking in September 1955, aged 79.[8]

Wilson was commissioned into the Royal Marine Light Infantry and served in the Second Boer War, where he was wounded, mentioned in despatches and awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with five clasps and the Distinguished Service Order. In 1901 he achieved the rank of captain.

From 1903 to 1909, Wilson served as aide-de-camp to the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Harry Rawson.[1]

During the First World War Wilson commanded the Hawke Battalion of the Royal Naval Division with the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel in the Royal Marines and fought at Gallipoli, where he was again mentioned in despatches, and in France, where he was severely wounded.

On 2 December 1915, Wilson was carrying dispatches on the Greek ship Spetzia when officers from a German submarine boarded the ship and captured him and another officer, Colonel Napier.[11]

In January 1910, at the General Election, Wilson unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate for Poplar. In December 1910, he was Unionist candidate for Reading, but was defeated by the sitting Liberal candidate, Sir Rufus Isaacs, the Attorney-General.[12][13]

In 1913 Wilson was returned to Parliament for Reading, a seat he held until 1922. In 1919 Wilson was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping in the coalition government headed by David Lloyd George, a position he held until the Ministry of Shipping was abolished in 1921, and then served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1921 to 1922. He was also the Conservative Chief Whip.

At the general election Wilson abandoned his Reading constituency to contest the Westminster St. George's division, but was defeated by an Independent Conservative. However within a few weeks he was re-elected at a by-election at Portsmouth South. He was again Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1922 to 1923 under Bonar Law and later Stanley Baldwin, and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1922.

Wilson was a freemason. He was initiated into the craft in the Lodge Ionic No. 65, in Sydney, while serving as an aide-de-camp to Harry Rawson. When he returned to England, in 1909, he became a member of Navy Lodge No. 2612. He became Senior Warden of the Lodge in 1913 and Worshipful Master in 1917. He was the Primus Master of Old Pauline Lodge No.3969 consecrated on Friday 18 July 1919.[15][16] In 1922 he was appointed Junior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England and District Grand Master of Bombay in the following year. To this day there is a Lodge in Pune, Leslie Wilson Lodge No.4880 E.C., named for him.[17] When he was appointed Governor of Queensland, he became Grand Master of Queensland's Grand Lodge serving for 12 years.[18] After arriving in Brisbane aboard the R.M.S. Otranto on Monday, 13 June 1932, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson proceeded to the Queensland Parliament House, where he was sworn in as the 15th Governor of Queensland and representative of His Majesty King George V. At the Regular Meeting of Lamington Lodge, No. 110 U.G.L.Q., held on Thursday, 6 July 1933, a motion was passed that R.W. Bro. Wilson P.D.G.M. (Bombay), P.G.D. (England) be accepted as a joining Brother to Lamington Lodge. The Master read a letter from the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, dated Wednesday, 14 June, covering a special dispensation to ballot at the same meeting. After the ballot, the Master declared that R.W. Bro. Wilson was duly elected a member of Lamington Lodge. The following year, on Wednesday, 25 July 1934, R.W. Bro. Wilson was invested and installed as the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Queensland. He was proclaimed as the Grand Master for the last time, on Wednesday, 24 July 1945, marking his entry upon his twelfth year as the Grand Master.[19]

Wilson was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1916, a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1923, a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India in 1929 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1937.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leslie Orme Wilson.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Leslie Wilson
• Portraits of Sir Leslie Wilson at the National Portrait Gallery, London