British dentist’s emotional reunion with great‑grandfather’s grave ending family’s 119-year search

It was an emotional and almost surreal moment for 68-year-old British dentist Robin Dickson as he gently placed a white rosebud and a black-and-white photograph of his great-grandfather Lieutenant Charles Wilson on his grave at the Commonwealth War Graves (CWG) Cemetery No. 12 in Trimulgherry, Secunderabad Cantonment. The officer had died 119 years ago and for more than a century his descendants had searched unsuccessfully for his final resting place.

Dr. Dickson and his wife, Lynn, travelled to India specifically to pay their respects at the grave of Lt. Wilson, who died on August 4, 1906, and was buried with military honours in CWG Cemetery No. 12, maintained by the CSI Wesley Cemetery Board. For generations, Wilson’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren had tried in vain to locate the grave.

Everything changed 14 months ago when Dr. Dickson came across a news story in The Hindu about the discovery of another long-lost grave — that of an Irish woman’s great-granduncle — in CWG Cemetery No. 5, located diagonally opposite the cemetery where Lt. Wilson lay. The article prompted him to reach out to the newspaper. After he emailed detailed family records, a search by the gravediggers and caretaker led to Lt. Wilson’s grave being located in April last year.

Eight months after the discovery, Dr. Dickson planned a three-week tour of India with a deeply personal purpose — to walk the same paths his great-grandfather and family had once taken. After visiting Ooty and Bengaluru — places connected to Wilson’s family history — the couple arrived in Hyderabad on Thursday, completing a journey nearly 119 years in the making.

On Friday, Dr. Dickson told The Hindu, “The completion of a 119-year-old family history circle finally took place today. We were able to honour the life and service of my great-grandfather, Lieutenant Charles Wilson, in India. It meant a lot to reunite him with his service medals at his final resting place and involve the team that worked tirelessly for months.”

Lt. Wilson, born James Henry Dickson on May 4, 1858, in Waverton near Chester, England, served his final posting with the 15th Mule Company of the Supply and Transport Corps under the Madras Command in Secunderabad. He died at the age of 48 at the Station Hospital following a short illness.

 Lieutenant Charles Wilson

Dr. Dickson has meticulously compiled records of his great‑grandfather’s life. Wilson worked as an apprentice with a provision merchant in Chester from 1873 to 1874, later enlisting in the British Army as a private in the 50th Brigade in 1880. He was transferred to the 2nd Middlesex Regiment in 1881. He married Harriet, and the couple had four children. After Wilson’s death, the family left India for Birmingham in March 1907.

Before travelling to India, Dr. Dickson prepared extensively. “I gathered every document — photographs, maps, a copy of the death certificate issued by the Station Hospital in 1906, even the 1907 marriage certificate of Wilson’s daughter Maud, who married Thomas Pardey from Ooty. Each piece helped complete the picture,” he said.

The British couple visited the grave accompanied by Indian friends Prem Kamath, a former senior official of a multinational company, and his wife Rina Kamath. They also toured All Saints’ Church, where Lt. Wilson’s daughter Maud Wilson was married, and the Trimulgherry Entrenchment Fort, Secunderabad Military Station, and the Military Hospital — sites closely tied to Lt. Wilson’s time in Secunderabad.

“The colonial-era architecture offers a strong sense of what life would have been like for Lt. Wilson and his family,” Dr. Dickson said, adding, “This trip is my tribute not only to him but to all who left the UK to serve in the armed forces across the world.”

Equally moved by the occasion, Mr. Kamath said: “Our journey reached a landmark culmination today when we were escorted to the grave so that Robin could conduct his own modest ceremony to honour his late great-grandfather, who lies beneath a simple yet elegant marble slab erected by fellow soldiers of his regiment. It was truly a poignant moment for all of us.”

“It was a moment of triumph, emotion, and bonding with the patriarch of his family,” Ms. Kamath said, noting that Robin and Lynn laid a single white rose, a small wooden cross with a red poppy at the centre, and the original medals worn by Charles Wilson.

Published – February 13, 2026 11:31 pm IST