[2] Wilson served as the Sub-Commissioner of the Buganda Kingdom in 1895, and later as Her Britannic Majesty's Acting Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the Uganda Protectorate and Consul-General from 5 November 1897 to 29 January 1898.

Suffering from constant health challenges along the journey and having a weak pulse, Lugard acted quickly by taking Wilson to his tent and using natural medicine, like rubbing him with carbolic oil, to revive him.

[22] Lugard held a high opinion of Wilson, praising his success with the Kikuyu and crediting him for teaching valuable lessons in interactions with locals.

In August 1892, on his way back to the coast, Lugard found Wilson at work on the Mackinnon Road, being built by the Mission from Mazeras to Kibwezi.

[28] John Dawson Ainsworth's memoirs recount how Wilson was ambushed by the Wa-Kikuyu under Waiyaki Wa Hinga's command for over a week.

This forced Wilson and his men to vacate Fort Dagoretti at night and retreat to Machakos on 30 March 1891 under the advice of Ernest Gedge,[29] along with 30 African soldiers.

This led Lugard to make the difficult decision to leave him at a station in Dagoretti with a garrison of thirty men while the rest of the expedition moved forward.

Wilson's health, however, improved rapidly in the "cold, bracing air of the mountains," as Lugard claims in his book, The Rise of Our East African Empire.

Following the recapture and rebuilding of the station at Dagoretti, they lost control of the previously burned garrison during a dash for safety back to Machakos, where their headquarters was built by Lugard in 1889.

He narrated that hostilities had emerged between the Wa-kikuyu and company officials when Wa Hinga murdered two of Wilson's porters who had gone to his village to buy food for the garrison.

On 5 January, Wilson informed Prime Minister Lord Salisbury in a letter to the UK Foreign Office that he regretted being unable to report the termination of the mutineers in Usoga.

As I anticipated in a previous despatch, the deep gravity of the mutiny has put all local troubles out of focus, and it has been difficult to rouse the native authorities into taking the necessary action for the decisive stamping out of the Mwanga revolt...I had found it necessary some time ago on account of certain previous unauthorised journeys during disturbed periods to warn the Missions that, unless I was informed of all intended movements in the country by their members, I could not undertake to have proper precautions taken for their safety.."[55] However, following his services against the Sudanese mutineers, whom he defeated with the help of three to four thousand armed Wagandas after leaving from Mengo on 19 October 1898,[56] Wilson was awarded the (Civil) Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB) for his outstanding military efforts.

It is one which will cause the Kabaka and chiefs to interest themselves in the question of taxation, and, in view of the fact that it was drawn up at their own special request by Mr. Wilson after he had ample opportunity of judging them and their capabilities, I venture to submit it, with confidence for your Lordship’s ratification".

For this reason, His Lordship is unwilling to criticise it in detail or to make alterations which would suggest themselves were such criticism undertaken, as the result might be to shake the confidence of the native signatories in the good faith of the administration.

[13] George Wilson was deeply involved in shaping the administrative policies of Uganda by working closely with local chiefs and establishing a formal relationship with them.

[71] Wilson also lobbied the Colonial Office to provide greater protections to African farmers, including the right to kill elephants that frequently attacked people.

Dated November 1904, the letter informed Foreign Secretary Lansdowne of the risks posed to the Unyoro district and the unsuccessful epidemiological efforts of the scarce public health officials, along with the skeleton laboratory team at Entebbe, stating: "Present researches here must be somewhat purely academic, and, however resultant of facts of intense scientific interest, are not sufficiently advancing our hopes of prevention".

[75][76] Following the persistence of the epidemic, Wilson issued a notice in January 1908 banning all fishing activities on Lake Victoria, as it was assessed to increase the risk of spreading the disease.

He led the inquiry into the death of Harry George Galt, a man regarded as a ruthless colonial officer who had recently been appointed sub-commissioner of the western province of the protectorate, before being murdered with a spear by a native.

[78] Wilson believed Galt's death was politically motivated and cautioned in 1905 that the spirit of unrest in Ankole would not subside until the Protectorate government thoroughly investigated and took decisive actions against the perpetrators.

This belief was further emphasized when, shortly after the suppression of the rebellion and the arrest and subsequent exile of 54 Bunyoro chiefs from the kingdom—49 of whom were Catholic and later replaced with 51 Protestants—Wilson wrote: "The conspiracy had been marked with such able organisation and recusancy for a long period so quietly and persistently sustained as to stamp it with the suspicion of non-native guidance.

"[92] Wilson introduced automobiles to East Africa Protectorate, acquiring and driving his first car—a De Dion Bouton—lowered from a steamship arriving from France at the port of Mombasa in December 1903.

Author Gavin Bennett wrote, "Summoning what breath and dignity he could muster, George Wilson sat poker stiff at the wheel of Kenya’s first-ever car and, staring fixedly ahead, he uttered the historic cry: PUSH!...The eccentric George Wilson offloaded a curious contraption called a De Dion Bouton before a bemused gathering of pith helmets and parasols at Mombasa’s old port... Wilson, ably assisted by his wife, had to pay earnest attention to a service manual to discover where to put the oil and grease and how to adjust the various brass levers on the steering wheel to get the spark and fuel mixture just right... when he finally got the engine to fire, he had indeed started something.

In April 1904, he returned to Africa with a 25-horsepower motor vehicle to tour the protectorate via over 600 miles of road built since 1890, using fuel he regularly imported from Bombay Presidency.

On the evening of 7 November 1906, while he was still H.M. Commander-in-Chief of Uganda, Wilson attended the annual meeting in London, where he was the special guest of honour hosted by the Royal African Society.

A few months later, on 15 January 1907, he presented the same paper as the principal guest at the Royal Society of Arts, chaired by his old friend and comrade Sir Frederick Lugard.

[97] Five months later, on 28 June 1907, Wilson was awarded a silver medal and made a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for his important contributions via the paper he wrote on the progress of the Uganda Protectorate.

[105] After departing from East Africa via Mombasa, Wilson headed for England for the first time on 27 September 1899 aboard the SS Bundesrath (DOAL) with six months of holiday leave.

[109] Clarissa attended state events with Wilson, including a parade ceremony in Busindi, where he received a medal for his role in suppressing the Sudanese revolt.

[111][112] The 1921 England and Wales census confirmed their residence there, long after Wilson had retired from colonial service and shortly after he and his wife moved from Laleham, Middlesex.