Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Wilson ki te tama a Rear Admiral George Knyvet Wilson me Agnes Mary Wilson (née Yonge), i whakaakona a Wilson i te Whare Wananga o Eton i mua i tana urunga atu ki te Royal Navy hei kaitiaki kaipuke tuarua i te tau 1855. I tae ia ki te Pakanga o Kinburn i te Oketopa 1855 i te Pakanga o Crimea. I whakawhitihia ia ki te wha-tohu HMS "Raleigh" i runga i te teihana Haina i te Mahuru 1856 ana, i muri i te ngaro o te "Raleigh" i te taha o Hong Kong, i whakawhitihia ki te tuarua-tohu HMS "Calcutta" ka kite i te mahi hei rangatira mo te pupuhi i te piriti moana i te
Ko te Pakanga o Canton i te Hakihea 1857 me te Pakanga o Taku Forts i te Mei 1858 i te Pakanga Tuarua Opium. I tohua ia ki te kaipuke kaipuke HMS "Topaze" i runga i te teihana o te Moananui a Kiwa i te marama o Hepetema 1859 a i whakatairangahia ia ki te rangatira i te 11 o Tihema 1861. Whai muri i tana haerenga i runga i te kaipuke HMS "Gladiator", ka uru atu ia ki te kura pupuhi HMS "Excellent" i Portsmouth i te Paenga-whawha 1865. I noho ia hei kaiwhakaako i te Imperial Japanese Naval Academy hou i Yokohama i Japan i te marama o Mei 1867 ana i te kaipuke whakangungu hou a HMS "Britannia" i te Hanuere 1869.