Brass and ebony penknife used by Captain T. F. Wilson during the Siege of Lucknow, 1857

Wilson was serving as a staff officer with Sir Henry Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner and agent to the Governor-General in Oudh, when the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) began. He was with Sir Henry on 2 July 1857, discussing the distribution of rations to the besieged garrison at the Lucknow Residency, when a shell exploded mortally wounding his commander. Wilson escaped injury and went on to serve throughout the remainder of the rising. Afterwards he wrote his memoirs and they form one of the best first-hand accounts of the siege.