John Baldock Wisdom
1857–1908
Lands Department inspector, Glen Innes
- Registered
- 5734/1856, Maitland
- Married
- Ada Isobel Rogers (1883); Eloise E. Lyne (1899)
A Lands Department career, first-class cricket and two marriages — told above.
The Baldock Family · Alfred & Frances Baldock
Mary Baldock & William Stephen Wisdom
c. 1835–1925
The “Mary (3)” of the 1838 passenger list — she outlived every one of her siblings by decades; one son became a well-known Glen Innes identity, and a grandson never came home from France.
- Died
- 8 November 1925 · Hurstville, aged 90
- Married
- William Stephen Wisdom
Mary sailed with her parents aboard the William Metcalfe in 1838, aged three, entered on the ship’s list simply as “Mary Anne … (3) … with family.”1 She married William Stephen Wisdom in the Hunter district in 1855, and their three known children were registered in turn at Maitland, Sydney and Redfern over the following fifteen years — a family that moved with William’s work.2
Their eldest known child, John Baldock Wisdom, born 5 November 1857, made the most public career of any of Mary’s children. He joined the Department of Lands as a clerk in the Conditional Sales Branch from 1 January 1882, and by 1898 was “C.P. Inspector and Forester” for the Armidale district — based at Glen Innes, travelling a country that ran to the Queensland border — a post he held until ill health forced his retirement about eighteen months before his death; in his last year he went into partnership as an auctioneer, stock and commission agent. He was better known still as a sportsman: a bowler for the old Sydney “Alberts” club rated good enough for international honours, he later represented New England against the English touring team of Shaw and Shrewsbury at Armidale, and was also a footballer, referee, tenor singer and amateur actor. He was a nephew of Sir Robert Wisdom, Crown Prosecutor and, for four years, Chairman of Committees in the NSW Legislative Assembly.3
John married twice. His first wife, Ada Isobel Rogers, he wed at St Peter’s, Cook’s River, on 6 June 1883 — five days before his appointment as Acting Inspector of Conditional Purchases took effect. Ada bore six children between 1885 and 1892, and died at Glen Innes in August 1893, in her own turn a daughter of a mother named Rhoda; in 1899 John remarried, to Eloise E. Lyne, at Narrabri, and a son, Philip, was born to them at Glen Innes in 1900.4 When John died at Glen Innes on 15 April 1908, aged fifty, his obituary named his widow as “a daughter of the late Mr. Bishop Lyne, who died a few weeks ago at Narrabri” — plainly Eloise — and counted four sons and two daughters living: with Philip added to Ada’s three sons, and only two of Ada’s three daughters apparently surviving to 1908, the obituary’s tally finally adds up.
One of those sons paid the fuller price. John Stewart Wisdom — Ada’s third son, “Jack” of the 1908 obituary, then a young bank clerk at Narrabri — enlisted in the First World War and was killed serving with the 54th Battalion, Australian Infantry, dying of wounds on 19 April 1918. He was buried at the Longpré-les-Corps-Saints Communal Cemetery Extension in France, ten years almost to the day after his father’s death.5
Mary’s other children lived quieter lives. Alice L. M. Wisdom married Ernest Giles Seymour at Newtown in 1892; their son, Reginald Alan, was born in 1896, and Alice was still living at Ashfield, a widow in home duties, in 1933. She died in 1947 and was buried at Rookwood.6 Edgar Stanley Wisdom, a clerk, married Clare Louise Fitzgerald — born 22 June 1872 at Manukau, Auckland — at Newtown in 1895, and the couple had six children between 1895 and 1908, the family living for a time at Dolls Point, Rockdale.7 Clare Louise died at Newtown in September 1908, the same year and district as the birth of their youngest, Robert — she may not have survived his birth by long, if she survived it at all. Edgar remarried; by 1913 the mother named on his children’s birth registrations was Mary Beatrice, and a further three children followed to 1916, the second of them another Robert — very possibly named for a first who had not lived.8
Mary herself outlived John by seventeen years, dying at Hurstville on 8 November 1925 at ninety, and was buried at Woronora Cemetery.9
The Children of Mary and William
Alice L. M. Wisdom
1868–1947
m. Ernest Giles Seymour, 1892
- Registered
- 1252/1868, Sydney
Lived at Ashfield; buried Rookwood — told above.
Edgar Stanley Wisdom
b. 1870
clerk; m. Clare Louise Fitzgerald, 1895
- Registered
- 3797/1870, Redfern
Nine children traced across two households — told above.
It was in the cricketing sphere that he excelled, and in the early days he was recognised as one of our best break bowlers; in fact, when a member of the old Sydney “Alberts,” so good was his promise that he was looked upon by competent judges of the period as a likely candidate for international honours. His career on Glen Innes fields was a notable one, both with bat and ball, and he represented New England at Armidale against Shaw and Shrewsbury’s team.
John’s Children
Six children were born to John and his first wife, Ada Isobel Rogers, between 1885 and 1892; a seventh, Philip, followed in 1900 to John’s second wife, Eloise E. Lyne.
Lucie G. Wisdom
b. 1885
- Registered
- 19665/1885, Glen Innes
Mother Ada. Not further traced.
Nellie Wisdom
b. 1886
- Registered
- 20857/1886, Glen Innes
Mother Ada. Not further traced.
Harry S. Wisdom
b. 1887
- Registered
- 21364/1887, Glen Innes
Mother Ada. “Harry” of the obituary — in a bank position at Tamworth by 1908.
John Stewart Wisdom
1889–1918
Pte., 54th Bn. AIF
- Registered
- 20799/1889, Glen Innes
- Died
- 19 Apr 1918, France
Mother Ada. “Jack” of the obituary — killed in action, told above.
Frank A. Wisdom
b. 1890
- Registered
- 13762/1890, Glen Innes
Mother Ada. “Frank” of the obituary — in a bank position at Inverell by 1908.
Rosalind M. Wisdom
b. 1892
- Registered
- 21604/1892, Manly
Mother Ada. Not further traced.
Philip G. Wisdom
b. 1900
- Registered
- 21991/1900, Glen Innes
Mother Eloise. Not further traced.
WISDOM, Pte. John Stewart, 3735. 54th Bn. Australian Inf. Died of wounds 19th April, 1918. Son of John Baldock Wisdom and Ada Isobel Wisdom. Native of Glen Innes, New South Wales.
Edgar’s Children
Six children were born to Edgar and Clare Louise between 1895 and 1908; three more followed to 1913–1916, by which time the mother named on the registrations was Mary Beatrice.
Lillian I. Wisdom
b. 1895
- Registered
- 36617/1895, St Peters
Mother Clare. Not further traced.
Phyllis Eileen Wisdom
b. 1896
- Registered
- 34678/1896, St Peters
Mother Clare. Baptised Newtown, born 26 August 1896.
Doreen E. Wisdom
b. 1899
- Registered
- 23520/1899, Newtown
Mother Clare. Not further traced.
Nellie Wisdom
b. 1903
- Registered
- 15715/1903, Rockdale
Mother Clare. Not further traced.
Marjory L. Wisdom
b. 1904
- Registered
- 26261/1904, Rockdale
Mother Clare. Not further traced.
Robert S. Wisdom
b. 1908
- Registered
- 6483/1908, Newtown
Mother Clare, who died the same year — told above. Not further traced.
Florence Lilla Wisdom
b. 1913
- Registered
- 40681/1913, Newtown
Mother Mary Beatrice. Not further traced.
John K. Wisdom
b. 1915
- Registered
- 14860/1915, Newtown
Mother Mary Beatrice. Not further traced.
Robert Y. Wisdom
b. 1916
- Registered
- 41043/1916, Newtown
Mother Mary Beatrice. Not further traced.
The Record
Sources & References
- 1
Mary Anne Baldock aboard the William Metcalfe, 1838
Assisted-immigration passenger list, ship William Metcalfe, 1838: Mary Anne Baldock, age 3, father Baldock, Wm, mother Colman, Louisa, noted “With family.”
- 2
Marriage of Mary A. Baldock and William S. Wisdom, 1855, and their children’s births
NSW BDM marriage index, 1855: Mary A. Baldock to William S. Wisdom, registered in the Hunter district (Black Creek/Bulwarra/Cloden/East Maitland/Hinton/Hunter District/Maitland/Morpeth/West Maitland registration group), volume V B. NSW BDM birth index, father William S., mother Mary A.: John B. Wisdom 5734/1856 (Maitland); Alice L. M. Wisdom 1252/1868 (Sydney); Edgar S. Wisdom 3797/1870 (Redfern).
- 3
John Baldock Wisdom’s Lands Department career, 1882–1908
NSW Government Gazette, 17 March 1882: Frederick Richard Chambers, John Baldock Wisdom and Mountiford Rees Longfield appointed Clerks in the Conditional Sales Branch, Department of Lands, from 1 January 1882. NSW Government Gazette, 6 July 1883: John Baldock Wisdom and Thomas Herbert Wilshire appointed Acting Inspectors of Conditional Purchases, from 11 June 1883. NSW Public Service List, 1898: “Wisdom, John Baldock,” born 5 November 1857, Department of Lands, Armidale district, C.P. Inspector and Forester, appointed to present position 1 July 1895, salary £275. Obituary: “Death of Mr. J. B. Wisdom,” Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser, 17 April 1908, quoted below.
- 4
John Baldock Wisdom’s two marriages, and Philip’s birth
NSW marriage register, District of St Peter’s, 1883, entry no. 150: John Baldock Wisdom, bachelor, Inspector of Conditional Purchases, born NSW, to Ada Isobel Rogers, spinster, married 6 June 1883; groom’s parents given as William Stephen Wisdom and Mary Ann Wisdom (Baldock). NSW BDM birth index, father John B., mother Ada (I./J./J. R.): Lucie G. 19665/1885 (Glen Innes); Nellie 20857/1886 (Glen Innes); Harry S. 21364/1887 (Glen Innes); John S. 20799/1889 (Glen Innes); Frank A. 13762/1890 (Glen Innes); Rosalind M. 21604/1892 (Manly). Burial/death record: Ada I. Wisdom, née Rogers, died August 1893, buried Glen Innes General Cemetery; NSW BDM death registration 6227/1893, Glen Innes, mother’s given name Rhoda. NSW BDM marriage index, 1899: John B. Wisdom to Eloise E. Lyne, registered at Narrabri (reg. 6233). NSW BDM birth index: Philip G. Wisdom 21991/1900 (Glen Innes), father John B., mother Eloise E.
- 5
John Stewart Wisdom, 1889–1918
Cemetery register, Longpré-les-Corps-Saints Communal Cemetery Extension, France: “WISDOM, Pte. John Stewart, 3735. 54th Bn. Australian Inf. Died of wounds 19th April, 1918. Son of John Baldock Wisdom and Ada Isobel Wisdom. Native of Glen Innes, New South Wales. C. 12.”
- 6
Alice L. M. Wisdom & Ernest Giles Seymour
NSW BDM marriage index, 1892: Alice L. M. Wisdom to Ernest G. Seymour, registered at Newtown (reg. 5785). Family-tree aggregation: son Reginald Alan Seymour; parish baptism register, 1896: Reginald Alan, born 6 March 1896, parents Ernest Giles and Alice Lilla May Seymour, of Marrickville, father a draper. Commonwealth electoral roll, 1933: Alice Lilla May Seymour, 42 Pembroke Street, Ashfield, home duties. Burial record: Alice Lellie May Seymour, died 25 September 1947, buried Rookwood General Cemetery.
- 7
Edgar Stanley Wisdom & Clare Louise Fitzgerald
NSW marriage register, District of Newtown, 1895, entry no. 685: Edgar Stanley Wisdom, bachelor, clerk, born Redfern, to Clare Louise Fitzgerald, spinster, born Pakuranga, New Zealand, daughter of Aubrey and Clara (née Francis) Fitzgerald; married 3 June 1895, groom’s parents given as William Stephen Wisdom and Mary Ann (Baldock). 1901 census: Edgar Wisdom household, Dolls Point, Rockdale. NSW BDM birth index, father Edgar S., mother Clara/Clare L.: Lillian I. 36617/1895 (St Peters); Phyllis E. 34678/1896 (St Peters); Doreen E. 23520/1899 (Newtown); Nellie 15715/1903 (Rockdale); Marjory L. 26261/1904 (Rockdale); Robert S. 6483/1908 (Newtown). Parish baptism register, 1896: Phyllis Eileen, born 26 August 1896, parents Edgar Stanley and Clare Louise Wisdom, of 95 Alice Street, Newtown, father a clerk. Family-tree aggregation: Clare Louise Wisdom, née Fitzgerald, born 22 June 1872, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand (the wider district containing Pakuranga); died 25 September 1908, Newtown; buried Rookwood General Cemetery; children listed as Nellie Helen McHale, Doreen Estelle Williams, Robert Stanley Wisdom and Lillian Isobel Ferney (married surnames).
- 8
Edgar Stanley Wisdom’s later children, 1913–1916
NSW BDM birth index, father Edgar S., mother Mary B.: Florence L. 40681/1913 (Newtown); John K. 14860/1915 (Newtown); Robert Y. 41043/1916 (Newtown). Parish baptism register, 1913: Florence Lilla, born 22 November 1913, parents Edgar Stanley and Mary Beatrice Wisdom, of Erskineville, father a clerk. Edgar’s second marriage, to Mary Beatrice, has not yet been traced.
- 9
Burial of Mary A. Wisdon, 1925
Burial record for “Mary A. Wisdon,” death age 90, born about 1835, died 8 November 1925 at Gallipoli Street, Hurstville, buried Woronora Church of England Cemetery, Section J, Grave 10 — consistent in age with the “Mary (3)” of the 1838 passenger list and corroborated by the ship record, marriage index and children’s birth registrations above.