Background
Jack Wilson was born in Bristol, Rhode Island to British parents, and was educated in Texas and Shrewsbury School, Shropshire, England before attending Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge.
Jack Wilson was born in Bristol, Rhode Island to British parents, and was educated in Texas and Shrewsbury School, Shropshire, England before attending Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge.
Pembroke College; Shrewsbury School.
While at Cambridge, he rowed in three successive Boat Races (1934-1936) in which Cambridge defeated Oxford. After graduating from University, Wilson took a post as a District Commissioner with the Sudan Political Service, missing an opportunity to participate alongside Laurie in Britain’s Eights boat at the 1936 Olympics. Both Wilson and Laurie returned to Sudan following their success, and continued to serve in the Sudan Political Service through the Second World War.
In 1946, Wilson survived an attack by a local woman in Sudan who threw an assegai spear at him.
This was followed later that year by an Olympic gold medal, once again rowing at Henley. Wilson retired from colonial service in 1954 and worked for the British Steel Corporation.
He died in 1997, aged 82.