Georgeson Wishart was born on 11 February 1862 in Montréal, Québec. He was the fifth of eight children of William Wishart, a quartermaster in the Royal Artillery, and his wife, Rhoda Ann Hawke. Shortly after he was born his family returned to England and by 1871 were living at the Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. In the late 1870s, Georgeson moved to Everton, Liverpool where he lived at 101 Queen’s Road and began a long association with the sea. His first ship was the General Domville – a fully rigged sailing ship built in New Brunswick, which he joined on 11 September 1876. This was followed by the Tycho Brahe (1885 – 1886) and the Bessell (1886 – 1888.) In 1890 he was registered as being 4th Mate on the Arizona, another large sailing ship registered in the port, and by 1912 he had become First Mate on the Fliswick. He was a member of the Apollo Lodge in Liverpool and in 1891 he married Sarah Winniefried Matthews in Blackburn.

During the First World War Georgeson served as sub-lieutenant on the Mersey tugboat T A Joliffe which, in 1915 was responsible for towing the monitor HMS Severn to the Rufiji River delta in East Africa so that she, and HMS Mersey, could take part in the attack on the German light cruiser Königsberg. In January 1919 Georgeson was admitted to hospital suffering from influenza and remained sick until 22 April when he was discharged from service. He was awarded the Mercantile Marine and British War medals and returned to Everton, where he lived at 19 Woodville Terrace. Around the time he was in hospital Georgeson would have received the news that his son, John William Wishart, had died in France while serving with the Shropshire Light Infantry.

Georgeson died at home on 13 October 1934. He was preceded in death by his wife (1913) and aforementioned son.

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