The obituary notice of David Ian WILSON

David, familiarly known as Ian, Wilson passed away in Hastings on 4th May at the age of 73 after a long struggle with cancer. He attended Merchiston for three years before leaving in 1969 to finish his education at St Joseph's College, Dumfries and then joined the Dumfries and Galloway Standard as a trainee reporter in 1971 while living near Lockerbie, his home town. He was to remain in, or associated with, journalism for almost his entire working life.

He moved to the Birmingham Post in 1973 and rose to features sub-editor before leaving in 1975 for the Evening News, Edinburgh. In 1977 he emigrated to Manama, Bahrain to join the Gulf Mirror, where he rose to news editor before becoming bureau chief for the Khaleej Times in 1980. After a year he rejoined the Gulf Mirror to manage the weekly magazine Time Out In The Gulf until 1984 when, after marrying, he returned to the Dumfries and Galloway Standard. During the next 10 years, as the industry went digital, Ian moved into bespoke software development and coding, working freelance for the Aberdeen Press and Journal, The Herald, The Observer, The Sunday Times and Scotland on Sunday. This continued until 1997 when he joined the Press Association in London and Yorkshire until 2001 producing news pages for the nationals along with supplements for sporting events such as The Derby and the British Grand Prix.

Further stints at the Metro in London and the Western Daily Press in Bristol followed until 2005 when he concentrated solely on consultancy work in systems and database development for business clients. His final position was back in Bahrain until he retired in 2018 and moved to Bexhill-on-Sea where he pursued his hobby for radio-controlled model airplanes. He is survived by his daughter, brother and sister.

David, familiarly known as Ian, Wilson passed away in Hastings on 4th May at the age of 73 after a long struggle with cancer. He attended Merchiston for three years before leaving in 1969 to finish his education at St Joseph's College, Dumfries and then joined the Dumfries and Galloway Standard as a trainee reporter in 1971 while living near Lockerbie, his home town. He was to remain in, or associated with, journalism for almost his entire working life.

He moved to the Birmingham Post in 1973 and rose to features sub-editor before leaving in 1975 for the Evening News, Edinburgh. In 1977 he emigrated to Manama, Bahrain to join the Gulf Mirror, where he rose to news editor before becoming bureau chief for the Khaleej Times in 1980. After a year he rejoined the Gulf Mirror to manage the weekly magazine Time Out In The Gulf until 1984 when, after marrying, he returned to the Dumfries and Galloway Standard. During the next 10 years, as the industry went digital, Ian moved into bespoke software development and coding, working freelance for the Aberdeen Press and Journal, The Herald, The Observer, The Sunday Times and Scotland on Sunday. This continued until 1997 when he joined the Press Association in London and Yorkshire until 2001 producing news pages for the nationals along with supplements for sporting events such as The Derby and the British Grand Prix.

Further stints at the Metro in London and the Western Daily Press in Bristol followed until 2005 when he concentrated solely on consultancy work in systems and database development for business clients. His final position was back in Bahrain until he retired in 2018 and moved to Bexhill-on-Sea where he pursued his hobby for radio-controlled model airplanes. He is survived by his daughter, brother and sister.