Sir Wilfrid Vernon Grigson CSI (1896 – 26 November 1948) was a British soldier and civil servant.

Biography

Wilfrid Grigson was born in 1896 in the Vicarage at Pelynt in Cornwall to Canon William Shuckforth Grigson and Mary Beatrice Boldero, and was one of seven brothers, including Geoffrey, Kenneth (1895–July 1918) and John (1893–1943). Five of the brothers died during the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second World Wars (the surviving brother being Geoffrey). Wilfrid Grigson was educated at

St John's School, Leatherhead Seek those things which are above , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent school Co-educational day, weekly and flexi boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , p ...

in Surrey, before matriculating to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. During the First World War, Grigson served as a lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps, serving in four different theatres of war. After the war he joined the Indian Civil Service and rose up through the ranks. At one point while resident in

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

his house was burned by people connected with the

Razakars Razakar (رضا کار) is etymologically an Arabic word which literally means volunteer. The word is also common in Urdu language as a loanword. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, razakar is a pejorative word meaning a traitor or Judas. In Pakista ...

. The highest rank he achieved was serving as deputy commissioner of the

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Star of India, and in 1948 was knighted. On 26 November 1948 the plane he was travelling on crashed, killing all 16 passengers and five crew. An obituary was published in the journal '' Nature''.

Personal life

Grigson and his wife had two children:

Christopher Grigson Christopher William Baisely "Grig" Grigson (1 December 1926 – 19 February 2001) was a British naval architect and electronic engineering, electronics engineer who is credited with the invention of scanning electron diffraction. Early life and ed ...

, a respected engineer naval architect, and Claudia, who later married Henry Chilver.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigson, Wilfrid Companions of the Order of the Star of India 1948 deaths 1896 births Military personnel from Cornwall People from Pelynt Machine Gun Corps officers Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead British Army personnel of World War I British people in colonial India