Robert Wisdom

Sir Robert Wisdom, (31 January 1830 – 16 March 1888) was a politician in colonial New South Wales and Attorney General of New South Wales. Early life and education Wisdom was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and arrived in Australia in 1834 with his parents, moving to Morpeth in the Hunter Valley. He was educated at Maitland and at the Sydney College. In November 1858 he was appointed a clerk of petty sessions at Stoney Creek, before being appointed a sub-commissioner of gold fields, and a magistrate. Political career In 1859 he resigned his office as gold commissioner in order to stand as a candidate for the new district of Goldfields West, where he was elected at Sofala on a show of hands, and was easily re-elected at the 1860 election. On 26 October 1861 he was admitted to the Colonial Bar. He was chairman of committees from 1861 until 1864, a position that carried a salary of £500, but declined ministerial appointments in the third ministry of Charles Cowper and a proposed ministry of William Forster. He switched to the district of The Lower Hunter, winning the seat at the 1864 election and holding it at the 1869 election. He was also elected to Goldfields North, but resigned to represent The Lower Hunter. He was defeated in 1872, becoming a Crown Prosecutor in 1873.