Diana Ruth Wilson was born on 31 May 1886 in Sherborne at The Green, a Sherborne School boarding house run by her father Thomas Ward Wilson (1849-1924) and his Canadian wife Augusta Louisa Wilson (née Jarvis) (1855-1929).
Diana was educated firstly at St Antony’s Convent School in Westbury, Sherborne (now Leweston School), and from September 1900 to July 1902 she was a day girl at Sherborne School for Girls during Miss Beatrice Mulliner’s headship. She became friends with Littleton Powys (Headmaster of Sherborne Prep School 1905-1923) who encouraged her interest in nature.
In 1905, when the Sherborne Pageant was performed at Sherborne Old Castle, Diana took part playing a queen, her mother played a lady of the court, her father a tribesman, and her sister Patience Marguerite Wilson (1899-1944) sang soprano in the dramatic chorus.
Ruth’s father retired from teaching in 1908 and the family moved to Uploders House near Bridport, Dorset, where in 1913 Ruth’s mother became treasurer of the Dorset (West) Society branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
On 22 April 1914, Diana was married in Worcester Cathedral to the botanist Philip Furley Fyson (1877-1947) of the Indian Educational Service, Madras. The wedding ceremony was performed jointly by Ruth’s uncle, the Rev. Canon J.M. Wilson, and Philip’s father, Bishop Philip Kemball Fyson (1846-1928), former Bishop of Hokkaido, Japan.
After their marriage, Diana returned with Philip to Madras (now Chennai), India, where Philip was Professor of Botany at the Presidency College of Madras, serving as Principal from 1925 to 1932. They had five children: Thomas Furley Fyson (1915-1986), Edward Creighton Fyson (1916-1944), Richard Hugh Fyson (1917-2008), Ruth Fyson (1919-1971) and Geoffrey Philip Fyson (1920-2007).
Philip was a noted botanist and is credited with writing the first illustrated volumes on the flora of the South Indian hills. Two of his books, The flora of the Nilgiri and Pulney hill-tops (1915-20) and The flora of the South Indian hill stations (1932), include illustrations by Diana.
In 1931, Diana’s illustrated guide to Mahabalipuram or Seven Pagodas, was published.
In 1932, Diana and Philip returned to England, living at Laugherne House in Rushwick, Worcestershire. Philip was knocked of his bike outside their house on Christmas Eve 1947 and died at Worcester Royal Infirmary on 26 December 1947. After Philip’s death Diana went to live with her daughter Ruth in Hexham, Northumberland, where she died on 16 December 1969.
A large collection of Diana’s early botanical paintings (1902-1914) is held at Sherborne Museum.
Rachel Hassall