The Memorial Plaque is inscribed:
To the memory of Captain George Pilkington RE Born in Dublin 25 March 1786 Died at Mimosas Sea point 3 July 1858 Colonial Civil Engineer of Sierra Leone, Trinidad And the Cape of Good Hope This tablet is erected by his son George William Pilkington As a tribute of deep and lasting affection "Thou good and faithful servant"
After passing out of Woolwich Military Academy in 1801, George Pilkington was commissioned in the Royal Engineers (RE). He retired from the RE in 1816 as a Captain.
He served as Civil Engineer and Surveyor-General of Sierra Leone and Trinidad before being appointed Civil Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works of the Cape Colony in 1848.
Memorials in the Cathedral
Lt Col Frederick Miller VC Memorial
Captain George Pilkington, RE
Colonel Edmund Hartley VC, CMG
3rd Dragoon Guards Anglo-Boer War Roll of Honour