Wilson was educated at New England Grammar School and The University of Sydney, graduating from his undergraduate studies in 1899 and his medical degree in 1904, though qualifying as a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, in 1901.

He co-founded the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association's South Australia branch organisation with hospital owner Kate Hill and Dr A.

[2] He established an innovative ante-natal clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1910, believing that routine examination during pregnancy would reduce labour complications.

In May 1916, he was re-appointed to the Australian Imperial Force as lieutenant colonel, commanding troops on the hospital ship Karoola.

[4] Wilson became a lecturer in gynecology at the University of Adelaide in 1920, though he never held a full-time academic position and received no payment for his work in hospitals, the majority of his income being earned from his private practice.