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{{Short description|Soldier, cricketer (1876–1962)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name =
| image =
| country = England
| full_name = Frank O'Brien Wilson
| nickname =
| birth_date = 30 April 1883
| birth_place = [[Biarritz]], [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]], France
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|4|7|1883|4|30|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Nairobi]], Kenya
| heightft =
| heightinch =
| batting = Unknown
| bowling = Unknown
| role =
| family =
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = 1905/06
| club2 = [[Devon County Cricket Club|Devon]]
| year2 = 1909
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 1
| runs1 = 9
| bat avg1 = 4.50
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 8
| deliveries1 = 192
| wickets1 = 0
| bowl avg1 = –
| fivefor1 = –
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = –/–
| date = 9 December
| year = 2022
| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/frank-wilson-35981 ESPNcricinfo
}}

Sir '''Frank O'Brien Wilson''' [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]] [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] (9 April 1876 – 7 April 1962) was a retired [[Royal Navy]] officer who settled in the [[British Kenya|Colony of Kenya]]. A volunteer in the [[East African Campaign (World War I)|East African Campaign]] of World War I, Wilson had a large property near [[Machakos]], where he initially farmed ostriches and later raised cattle. He also played [[first-class cricket|first-class]] cricket, and was a pioneer of [[cricket in Kenya]].

==Early life and cricket career==
Wilson was born at [[Biarritz]], [[France]],<ref name="obit">{{cite news | title=Obituary: Sir Frank Wilson. | newspaper=[[The Times]] | location=London, England | date=18 April 1962 | page=15 | issue=55369 }}</ref> and raised at [[Cliffe, Richmondshire|Cliffe Hall]], his father's property on the southern bank of the [[River Tees]] (lying west of [[Darlington]], [[County Durham]], in what is now the district of [[Richmondshire]], [[North Yorkshire]]). His father, Col. John Gerald Wilson [[Order of the Bath|CB]], was an officer in the [[York and Lancaster Regiment]], and died of wounds during the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]], at [[Battle of Tweebosch|Tweebosch]]. Frank Wilson was one of seven children, and the youngest of four brothers. The oldest brother, Lt. Richard Bassett Wilson, was also killed in the Boer War, at [[Rustenburg]]. The second brother, Lt.-Col. Sir [[Murrough John Wilson]], was a Conservative MP for [[Richmond (Yorks) (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond]], while the third brother, Lt.-Col. Denis Daly Wilson [[Military Cross|MC]], was killed in action in France during the First World War.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last= MacDonald|first=Alan|date=2008|title= A Lack of Offensive Spirit?: The 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0955811902|publisher=Alan MacDonald|page=272|isbn=978-0955811906}}</ref> The brothers' nephew through their youngest sister was [[James Ramsden (politician)|James Ramsden]], a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] member as the final [[Secretary of State for War]].<ref>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/ramsden-james-1923 RAMSDEN, James (b.1923).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205153911/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/ramsden-james-1923 |date=5 December 2014 }} – The History of Parliament. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> Unlike his brothers, all army officers, Frank Wilson enlisted in the Royal Navy. He served from 1897 to 1910, including for a period on the [[China station]].<ref name="book"/>

While in India in February 1906, Wilson played his only match of first-class cricket, appearing for the Europeans against the [[Hindus cricket team|Hindus]] in the Bombay Presidency Match.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14928/First-Class_Matches.html First-class matches played by Frank Wilson (1)] – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> He opened the Europeans' bowling in that game, but failed to take a wicket, and was also unsuccessful with the bat, scoring only nine runs across two innings.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/6/6937.html Europeans v Hindus], Bombay Presidency Match 1905/06 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> Later in the month, he also appeared for the [[Bombay Gymkhana]] against the touring [[Sri Lanka national cricket team|Ceylonese side]], where he opened both the batting and the bowling, taking six wickets for the match.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/280/280472.html Bombay Gymkhana v Ceylonese], Ceylonese in India 1905/06 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> During the [[1909 English cricket season|1909 English season]], Wilson appeared in five minor counties matches for Devon.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14928/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html Minor Counties Championship matches played by Frank Wilson (5)] – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> He opened the batting in all five matches, and also bowled occasionally, taking a five-wicket haul, 5/6, in his last minor counties match, against [[Carmarthenshire County Cricket Club|Carmarthenshire]].<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/87/87558.html Devon v Carmarthenshire], Minor Counties Championship 1909 (West Division) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> Wilson had previously turned out for the [[Royal Navy Cricket Club]] on three occasions – against the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) in 1906, and against the [[British Army cricket team|Army team]] in 1908 and 1909.<ref name="misc">[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14928/Miscellaneous_Matches.html Miscellaneous matches played by Frank Wilson (9)] – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> He had recorded a five-wicket haul in the game against the MCC, 5/38, despite being the seventh bowler brought on to bowl.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/129/129206.html Marylebone Cricket Club v Royal Navy], Other matches in England 1906 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> All of his matches for the Navy were played at [[Lord's]].<ref name="misc"/>

==Life in Kenya==
Upon retiring from the navy in 1910, Wilson, in partnership with Maj. Frank Joyce, established a property of {{convert|23,000|acres|km2}} at [[Ulu, Kenya|Ulu]], [[Kenya]] (near [[Machakos]]), where they initially [[Ostrich farm|farmed ostriches]]. On the outbreak of the First World War, he established a unit of volunteers, Wilson's Scouts, which was incorporated into the [[East African Mounted Rifles]] and saw service in the [[East African Campaign (World War I)|East African Campaign]]. Wilson was later attached to a [[South African Army|South African division]], where he oversaw military transport along the [[Rufiji River]], in present-day [[Tanzania]]. He was awarded the DSO for his service during the war, with his partner, Joyce, receiving the MC. When the pair returned to their property, ''Kilima Kiu'', many of their ostriches had been killed, and they turned to dairy farming.<ref name="obit"/> ''Kilima Kiu'' was at one stage the "largest dairy farm in all East Africa", but Wilson and Joyce divided it between themselves in 1934, after a quarrel.<ref>[http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/joyce-frank.html Collection Level Description: Papers of F. de V. Joyce; records of Kilima Kiu Estate/Joyce Ltd.] – Bodleian Library. Retrieved 28 November 2014.</ref> In later years, Wilson's farm held 2,500 cattle and employed over 400 staff, managed largely by his two sons. He also bred [[Arabian horse]]s. Under a policy of self-containment, the property had its own factory, pasteurisation facilities, cannery, school, and airstrip.<ref name="obit"/> Wilson was also involved in public life in Kenya, briefly representing Ukamba in the [[Legislative Council of Kenya]],<ref>''[[Kenya Gazette]]'': no. 1131. p. 281. 9 March 1927.</ref> and later chairing the Board of Agriculture, for which he was made a CMG in 1935 and knighted in 1949. He remained a keen cricketer, and was a pioneer of the [[Cricket in Kenya|sport in Kenya]], serving as vice-president of the [[Kenya Kongonis Cricket Club]]. Wilson had married Elizabeth Frances Pease, a daughter of [[Sir Arthur Pease, 1st Baronet]], in 1919, with whom he had four children. He died at ''Kilima Kiu'' in 1962. He and Frank Joyce both feature in the memoirs of [[Elspeth Huxley]].<ref name="obit" />

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=35981}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Frank OBrien}}
[[Category:1870s births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:British emigrants to British Kenya]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Devon cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Kenyan cricketers]]
[[Category:Kenyan farmers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People from Richmondshire (district)]]
[[Category:Royal Navy cricketers]]
[[Category:Settlers of Kenya]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Cricket people awarded knighthoods]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Kenya]]
[[Category:White Kenyan people]]
[[Category:South African military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Cricketers from North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:20th-century Kenyan politicians]]
[[Category:Kenyan sportsperson-politicians]]

Frank O'Brien Wilson - Revision history

JeanetteBracegir: Created...