WISEMANS HOTEL

The present hotel incorporates Cobham hall, the original grand home of Solomon Wiseman, built in 1826. Today some of the original Cedar doors and frames remain. The northern frontage shows the typical 19th century style with five openings on each storey, shaped stone lintels over the windows and a stone arch and fanlight above the main door. The seven semi-circular stone steps leading up to the front door.

Wiseman was granted a liquor license in 1821 and maintained it for most years until his death. As today these liquor licenses bore a tax and therefore most licenses were left to expire, and generally the license was only renewed if they were caught out by authorities.

SOLOMON WISEMAN
(1777 - 1838)

The Windsor and Richmond Gazette of 26th December, 1924, reported:
It was in the spacious days when England was at the death's grip with Napoleon that Solomon Wiseman first become notorious. He was captain of a small sloop cruising in the England Channel, and he and his vessel had a romantic career.

department the sentence was commuted to that of transportation...

The basis of this story would appear to from Reminiscences of New South Wales, by Judge Therry, who had been a guest of Wiseman at Cobham Hall. In reality, Wiseman had been convicted on 30th October, 1805, at the Old Bailey for feloniously stealing 704 pounds weight of Brazil wood, of the value of 24 pounds, from a lighter in the Thames.

His death sentence was commuted to transportation for life, and he arrived in the colony on the Alexander in 1806. Wiseman received his ticket-of-leave in June, 1810, and his absolute pardon in February, 1812. Following difficulties in the shipping trade, Wiseman was granted 200 acres on the Hawkesbury near Benjamin Singleton's property. By 1828 he had increased his holdings to 1100 acres.

He was employed by the British Government to carry spies to the French coast - a highly dangerous occupation - but he added to the adventure of his life by carrying other dangerous cargo in the shape of casks of rum and brandy on his return to the shores of England...

But in 1806 he was chased and caught by revenue officers off the Isle of Wight, and when they boarded his sloop they found not only contraband spirits and cigars, but certain passengers who turned out to be French spies making their way to England. For this business Solomon Wiseman was convicted and sentenced to death, but in consideration of his services to his country in connection with the secret intelligence

He established his ferry in 1827, having built his residence a year earlier - now Wisemans Hotel. He died at Wisemans Ferry on 29th October, 1838.

WISEMANS CUNNING

By the 1830s the settlement around Lower Portland Head had grown considerably and the community wanted to build a church. Solomon Wiseman, by now a wealthy man, announced that he would donate the land for the church and provide three hundred pounds ($600) towards the cost of the building. It was not until after Wiseman died and work had commenced on the church that it was discovered the land which he donated had never belonged to him: it was crown land. The bulk of the money promised by Wiseman was not forthcoming. Eventually one of the trustees of the church, Alexander Books, had to forfeit the boat he had just completed, the Highland lass, to pay the outstanding bills.

WISEMANS GHOST

Wiseman Ghost It was the custom in Wiseman's day to grant a ticket-of-leave to a seven years convict after the expiration of four years if his conduct had been good. One story has it that a young man of this class had served four years with Wiseman, and was eager to get his permit to go to Sydney for a mother or sweetheart, who had followed him out to the colony. But Wiseman, after some hot words, refused to report him for good conduct, and he was put on the hardest roadwork, chained during the day of the gang. Goaded to desperation by one of his overseers, who put him to work on a great ant-bed, the boy, with two companions, attempted to escape by swimming the Hawkesbury. But hampered by his leg-irons he was drowned. His mates were captured, and one of them, who was deeply attached to the youth, split open the skull of the overseer with a pick. For this he was made to walk the plank into eternity at Judgement Rock.

Legend has it that the spirit of the young convict comes periodically to the house, and clanks up the stairs, always to beg over again from the "Governor" the ticket of leave denied him a nearly two centuries ago.

There have also been reports of an apparition appearing on the stairs in the hotel believed to be that of Wiseman's first wife Jane. Romantic legend has it that Jane met a grizzly end on the circular steps at the northern entrance to old Cobham Hall. Fact or romance?