George Wise

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George Henry Wise (1 July 1853 – 31 July 1950) was an Australian politician and solicitor.

Wise was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College from five-years of age to he matriculated in 1868. He became an articled clerk and was admitted to the bar in September 1874 and set up his own practice in 1877 in Sale. He was elected as a member of Sale Borough Council from 1880 to 1904 and was mayor six times. He married Mary Thornton, née Smith in 1880. He established the Sale branch of the Australian Natives Association (ANA) in 1886 and became president of the Victorian branch of the ANA in 1891.^[1]

[edit] Political career

Wise was a strong supporter of the federation of Australia and stood unsuccessfully in 1892, 1894 and 1904 for election to the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He also failed to be elected to the Australian Senate in the 1901 elections and 1903 elections, but won the House of Representatives seat of Gippsland in 1906 elections by 97 votes from Allan McLean as a Protectionist. He could not accept the creation of the Fusion in 1909 and stood as an independent in 1910 and gained 62 percent of the vote against the Commonwealth Liberal Party (Fusion) candidate. He subsequently often supported the Australian Labor Party, but did not join it. The Liberal Party candidate, James Bennett beat him at the 1913 elections, but he won Gippsland back in 1914.^[1]

Wise won the 1917 easily as a Nationalist. Billy Hughes appointed him as an honorary minister, assisting the Minister for Defence from March 1918 to February 1920. He was Postmaster-General from February 1920 in the fifth Hughes Ministry, but lost his position in the reshuffle when Stanley Bruce was brought into the ministry in December 1921. He was almost defeated by the Country Party in 1919 and he lost to its candidate, Thomas Paterson in 1922. He failed to win the seat back in 1925 and 1928.^[1]

Wise continued to practice as a solicitor until 1948 and died in Sale in 1950, survived by three daughters and a son.^[1]

[edit] Notes

Political offices
Preceded by William Webster	Postmaster-General 1920–1921	Succeeded by Alexander Poynton
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Allan McLean	Member for Gippsland 1906–1913	Succeeded by James Bennett
Preceded by James Bennett	Member for Gippsland 1914–1922	Succeeded by Thomas Paterson

Persondata
NAME	Wise, George Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1 July 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH	Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH	31 July 1950
PLACE OF DEATH	Sale, Victoria