Charles Edmund Wilkinson

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Charles Edmund Wilkinson
Acting Governor of British Ceylon
In office
30 July 1860 – 22 October 1860
MonarchQueen Victoria
Preceded byHenry Frederick Lockyer
(Acting governor)
Succeeded byCharles Justin MacCarthy
Personal details
Born1801
Died3 June 1870
Knightsbridge, London
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)Mary Drought Armstrong
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/serviceFlag of the British Army.svg British Army
RankMajor-General
UnitRoyal Engineers

Charles Edmund Wilkinson (1801–1870) was a British army officer who rose to the rank of Major-General and served as acting Governor of British Ceylon.

Life[]

He was the only son of the naturalist Jacob Wilkinson (1773–1844) and his first wife Olivia Maria Cranke Stephen (1771–1815).

Pursuing a military career in the Royal Engineers, he rose to captain in 1846,[1] lieutenant-colonel in 1854,[2] brevet-colonel in 1858,[3] and in 1859 was promoted to full colonel.[4]

On 30 July 1860 he was appointed acting Governor of British Ceylon, a post he held until 22 October 1860 when he was succeeded by Charles Justin MacCarthy.[5]

In 1866 he achieved his final promotion to major-general[6] and died on 3 June 1870 at his London home, his will being proved in London on 24 June 1870 and in Dublin on 22 August 1870 with effects valued at under 30,000 pounds (equivalent to about 2.6 million pounds in 2015).[7]

Family[]

On 12 July 1837 he married Mary Drought Armstrong (1806–1902), daughter of an Irish landowner John Warneford Armstrong (1770–1858) and his wife Anne Turner (−1869), and they had six children, two of whom married:

  • Lora St Lo Elizabeth Wilkinson (1838–1934) in 1880 married John Ball (−1887): and
  • Charles St Lo Wilkinson (1849–1927) who in 1887 married Jessie Simons (1864-after 1927).

Lora left a diary of her time in Ceylon in 1860, excerpts from which can be read here.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ The London Gazette https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/20591/page/1237, retrieved 23 October 2016 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ The London Gazette https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21522/page/468, retrieved 23 October 2016 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ The London Gazette https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22194/page/4580, retrieved 23 October 2016 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ The London Gazette (PDF) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22358/page/601/data.pdf, retrieved 23 October 2016 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ "Sri Lanka". Rulers.org. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ^ The London Gazette (PDF) https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/23077/page/1096/data.pdf, retrieved 23 October 2016 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Ireland Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858–1920, Principal Probate Registry, Dublin, retrieved 23 October 2016
  8. ^ Noolaham (PDF), retrieved 23 October 2016
Government offices
Preceded by acting
Governor of British Ceylon
1860-1860 		Succeeded by
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