Rank: LT Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10467 

The following four paragraphs were provided courtesy of Anne Fisher.  

Lieutenant Matthew Maurice Wilson was born in Chatham on the 21st of December, 1896. He was the only son and youngest child of Matthew Wilson and the former Annie Marsden Atkinson. (I have viewed the birth record on Ancestry). His father was a lawyer and his siblings were; Meta Evelyn Wilson (who married Dr. Frederic Hall), Jessie Kathleen Wilson and Arabella Waugh Wilson (who died of cholera at the age of 1).

The following link is courtesy of A. Fisher and the Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute to give you complete information on Dr. Frederic Hall and (Meta Evelyn Wilson, wife:  https://ckphysiciantribute.ca/doctors/fredric-william-hall/

 

According to the 1911 census, the Wilson family resided at 325 Wellington Street West in Chatham. Lieutenant Wilson still resided at the resident when he enlisted on the 24th of March, 1917. He enlisted in London, Ontario and was a law student when he enlisted.

Lieutenant Wilson was shot and killed on the 10th of October, 1918 in Ficheux, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He was buried at the Burcquory Road Cemetery. He was single when he was killed and his father was listed as his next-of-kin.

Mathew had two sisters, he was ten years their younger. The “golden boy” of the family and he was sent to Ridley College, a prestigious private school in St. Catharines, ON, where he would be groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps. He would be studying law when the war began.

A law student. Lieut. 24^th Kent Regt. 1 year 186^th Bn. CEF as Lieut. Attestation: 24/03/1917 at London, ON to 186^th Bn. Pte. Matthew Wilson departed Halifax, NS. aboard the S. S. Lapland, 28 March, 1917 – “Nominal Roll 186^th Bn.”

On 10 October, 1918, just a month and a day short of the end of the Great war twenty one year old Lieut. “Sonny” Wilson was leading an attack on the town of Iwuy ( located between Cambria and Valenciennes, part of the campaign to capture the DQ line) he was hit by shrapnel seriously wounding him in the leg. Due to the fierce fighting it took some time to recover him and get him to a battalion aid station where he died of his wounds.

WILSON, MATTHEW MAURICE Initials: M M Nationality: Canadian Rank: Lieutenant Regiment: Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment) Unit Text: 18th Bn. Age: 21 Date of Death: 10/10/1918 Additional information: Son of Matthew and Anna Marsden Wilson, of 325, Wellington St. West, Chatham, Ontario. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: III. E. 8. Cemetery: BUCQUOY ROAD CEMETERY, FICHEUX

In November of 2014 he along with Lieut. Arthur Patrick ‘Pat’ Wilson and 57 other law students who put a promising law career aside to serve their country in the Great War were recognized with an honorary call to the bar from the Law Society of Upper Canada on Remembrance Day at Osgoode Hall. CDN 27/11/2014. 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources	Chatham Daily Planet (23-04-1917), Commonwealth War Grave Commission, Chatham Daily Planet (15-10-1918), Chatham Daily Planet (16-10-1918), Chatham Daily Planet (19-08-1919), Chatham Daily Planet (27-09-1919), RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 10467 - 12, Courtesy of A. Fisher, Courtesy of Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute
Supplemental Information	Age: 21 Date of Death: 10/10/1918 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: III. E. 8. Cemetery: BUCQUOY ROAD CEMETERY, FICHEUX

Height	5'9-1/2"
Eye Colour	blue
Age	17
Complexion	fair
Hair	brown
Race	white
Birthplace	21/12/1896 at Chatham, ON.
Religion	Church of England
Last Place of Employment	Wilson, Pike & Stewart, Barristers, Chatham
Marital Status	single
When Enlisted	Oct. 22, 1915
Next of Kin	Father: Matthew Wilson, K.C., D.C.L.

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