Wilfrid Grigson


Sir Wilfrid Vernon Grigson CSI 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 and John. Five of the brothers died during the First and Second World Wars. Wilfrid Grigson was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead in Surrey, before matriculating to Christ Church, Oxford.
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, serving as deputy commissioner of the Central Provinces and Berar. 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, a respected engineer naval architect, and Claudia, who later married Henry Chilver.