A British Royal Engineer whose meticulous survey of Jerusalem provided the basis for all subsequent studies of the city. Wilson’s survey work led to the foundation of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) in 1865. Jerusalem was surveyed according to standard Ordnance Survey practice, at scales of 1:500, 1:2,500 and 1:10,000. The plans of the city and its important buildings, along with 90 diagrams and 83 photographs, were published by the Ordnance Survey in 1866. It was the first time that the topography of Jerusalem had been so accurately recorded. Wilson was chairman of the PEF at the time of his death.