William Harding Wilson
- Died:
- 16 August 1920
- Age:
- 56
- Rank:
- District Inspector
- Force:
- Royal Irish Constabulary
- Cause:
- Homicide - Shot
- Duty Status:
- On Duty
Roll of Honour Citation
Shot in the head and killed as he was about to enter a shop while on duty in plain clothes.
Police Memorial Tribute
William Wilson was born at Ballycumber in 1864 and joined the RIC in 1882. While many senior policemen of the time joined the force as cadets, Wilson was a rank-and-file officer who was promoted to District Inspector in 1910. In 1917, his son Eccles Wilson was severely wounded while serving with the Royal Irish Regiment on the Western Front.
Throughout 1917 and 1918 relations in Tipperary between some members of the RIC and the Irish Volunteers descended into outright hostility. Serving in Templemore, William Wilson, along with his fellow D.I. Michael Hunt of Thurles, became ‘bétes noires’ for local republicans. In June 1919, a unit of the Mid-Tipperary IRA shot D.I. Hunt dead in Liberty Square, Thurles.
Wilson represented the RIC at Hunt’s inquest and temporarily took charge of the Thurles district.
In July 1920 Wilson lead an RIC patrol that shot dead IRA Captain Michael Small at Shevry, near Upperchurch. Following Small’s death, the IRA increased its efforts to kill Wilson, deploying a unit assembled by Mid-Tipperary O.C. Jimmy Leahy. The group was comprised of many of those who had taken part in the earlier shooting of D.I. Hunt.
William Wilson was shot dead on Patrick Street, Templemore, at 6:45pm on 16th August 1920. He was in plain clothes entering a shop.
