Bernhard Wise

Bernhard Wise
Wise in 1898 at the Australasian Federal Convention, Melbourne
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for South Sydney
In office 5 February 1887 – 19 January 1889 Serving with Alban Riley, James Toohey, George Withers
Preceded by	Joseph Oliffe
Succeeded by	William Traill
In office 17 June 1891 – 25 June 1894 Serving with James Martin, William Traill, James Toohey/William Manning
Preceded by	Walter Edmunds
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Sydney-Flinders
In office 17 July 1894 – 5 July 1895
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Arthur Nelson
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Ashfield
In office 27 July 1898 – 30 October 1900
Preceded by	Thomas Bavister
Succeeded by	Frederick Winchcombe
Personal details
Born	(1858-02-10)10 February 1858 Petersham, New South Wales
Died	19 September 1916(1916-09-19) (aged 58) Kensington, London, England
Resting place	Brookwood Cemetery
Political party	Free Trade Party
Spouse(s)	Lilian Margaret Baird (1884–1916)
Children	1 son
Alma mater	Oxford University

Bernhard Ringrose Wise (10 February 1858 – 19 September 1916) was an Australian politician. He was a social reformer, seen by some as a traitor to his class, but who was not fully accepted by the labor Movement. He said, "My failure in Sydney has been so complete—my qualities those which Australia does not recognise, my defects those which Australians dislike most." When he died, William Holman said, "There is hardly anything in our public life which we have to consider to-day that cannot be traced back to his brilliant mind and clear foresight … [Wise] held undisputed supremacy as the foremost debater, foremost thinker and foremost public man in the life of New South Wales".

Wise was born in the Sydney suburb of Petersham. He was the second son of Edward Wise, a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. After his father's death in 1865, his mother took the family to Leeds, England to put her sons through grammar school, where their "homemade clothes exposed us to ridicule and bullying". She moved to Rugby and took work, so that Wise could be educated at Rugby School as a day student. He won a ₤90 a year scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford, where he had a distinguished career, being Cobden prizeman in 1878 and gaining a first class in the honour school of law in 1880. He was president of the Oxford Union and president of the Oxford University athletic club.

He was amateur mile champion of Great Britain, 1879–81, and his interest in athletics led to his co-founding the Amateur Athletic Association, alongside Clement Jackson, and Montague Shearman, of which he was elected the first president. This became a very important body whose influence was eventually extended all over the world. In 1882, he moved to London, and worked closely with the social reformer, Arnold Toynbee. He was called to the bar of the Middle Temple in April 1883, and in August 1883, he returned to Sydney with his fiancée, Lilian Margaret Baird, whom he married in April 1884. He was admitted as a barrister in August 1883 and began to build up a successful practice.