NAME William Albert Wise
BORN Tamworth 8 May 1879
DIED Poss. 1957
MILITARY SERIAL NO. 255
UNIT NSW Citizen’s Bushmen  – Boer War
ENLISTED Sydney 7 February 1901
DISCHARGED Sydney 15 June 1902

William Wise’s block was Block No. 13 on Bective Soldier Settlement in the Tamworth Land District.  He had two blocks totalling 623 acres – SGP 1922/12 and 1926/1. Wise wrote on 18 September 1929 requesting that the improvements he had made be valued and be accepted in place of some of the instalment money he owed.[1] He went on,

I don’t know what has come over this part of the country we have had a rotten time since I took this farm.  We have had one of the worst winters on record and unless we soon get more rain the crops will not be on an average this year. It is a pity that these farms ain’t a living area. If they were 800 to 1000 acres we could keep going.[2]

At this date Wise had a wife and fourteen children to support.

By June 1930 he was running a dairy herd of 100 cows on a share basis at Bective and agreed without much conviction, to the execution of a crop lien on 50% of 240 acres of his crops.[3] Again, as in other cases the execution of a crop lien was not favourable for him.  He wrote on 12 July 1930, when sending the crop lien, ‘(this) is very hard on me considering the expense I have been under to put all these improvements on the farm to make it workable’.[4]  By the end of 1930 he was still complaining about the low price he was getting for his produce,

‘I don’t know what all of us are going to do if our produce price does not improve or the cost of living or land values don’t come down.  We will all certainly be bankrupt and will need some assistance to carry on’.[5] He had not made any payments to the Department during the three year period of his occupation. Because of this his continued occupation of the holding was receiving ‘serious consideration’.[6]

On 26 February 1931, when writing to W.J. Scully MLA, he requested that all his arrears up to date be postponed under the end of the term, free of interest.  He wrote,

I have just received a most unreasonable letter from the Under Secretary of Lands:  You can see the way we are helped to carry on.  You know me personally, we worked together and I am a returned soldier from the Boer War.  I wish to have my case closely investigated. If I don’t get some substantial assistance this block of land has really ruined me.  We will have to walk off and it is very hard after rearing such a large family.  If we could get the basic wage for the work we do, instead of just our food and clothes we would be well off.

Even with the submission made by Mr Scully MLA, no changes to Wise’s conditions laid down on 20 February 1931, could be undertaken.[7]  Wise wrote other letters of complaint on 29 March 1931 and 4 April 1931, ‘I think you and your Dept are very hard in my case’.[8]  And again when he wrote on 16 April 1931 when he sent the crop lien, ‘I am very sorry you are so hard on me … there are dozens that can tell you how we have worked on this farm and done our best, but it was in such a rotten state with black oats and other rubbish, that it was impossible for anyone to do good’.[9]

Wise continued to have trouble paying his arrears and his debt continued to increase.  By the end of November 1933, he was granted concessions and the postponement of some of his debt.  However, he was told that concessions were only to be granted if he executed a lien over one/third of his 1933 crops.

There is no indication from the Loans file, if he stayed on the holding.

Footnotes

[1] SRNSW:  Lands Department;  NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers loan files; [12/6855 No. 1311] William Wise to Minister for Lands 18 September 1929.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid, RSS Branch Report 27 June 1930.

[4] Ibid, WA Wise to Under Secretary of lands 12 July 1930.

[5] Ibid, Wise to the Lands Department 20 December 1930.

[6] Ibid, J Herlihy Under Secretary to W A Wide 24 February 1931.

[7] Ibid, RSS Branch 17 March 1931.

[8] Ibid, W.A. Wise  to J. Herlihy 4 April 1931.

[9] Ibid, 16 April 1931.

Sources used to compile this entry:

State Records NSW:  Lands Department; NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers loan files; [12/6855 No. 1311] William Albert Wise.

National Archives of Australia:  B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers (William Albert Wise) online: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=688861