This is the latest article in a series written by Nicole Jenkins, on behalf of the Deniliquin Historical Society. Each will cover stories from our town’s history, and those born in our town who have interesting stories of their own. This article is on the Wyse family of ‘Rose Lodge’.
Last month, we brought you the story of historic Deniliquin home ‘Rose Lodge’, built by John and Isabelle Broughton in the 1860s, and the Broughton family.
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Records show there was another prominent family, the Wyse family, who lived in the home.
By the time the Wyse family took possession in 1915, the name of the home had changed from Rose Lodge, to Rose Cottage and then Nowa Nowa.
Murray Wyse was the editor of the Deniliquin Pastoral Times.
Murray died in 1939 and, in his will, the home was transferred to his wife Mrs Audrey Wyse.
Audrey lived in the home until January 1954 when she sold the home to Nat and Mary Maw - my great great uncle and aunt.
Murray Aloysious Mendelssohn Hutchinson Wyse was born in 1880. He was a third generation Australian.
His two times great grandparents were convicts - Isaac Wise (yes, spelled with an ‘i’) and his defacto partner Catherine Watson. They were convicted of counterfeiting and both received 14 years.
Henry Wyse, Murray’s grandfather, was born in 1821 in Sydney.
He married Rebecca Hutchinson in 1844 in Melbourne. They had 14 children.
When their third child Leopold was baptised, Henry changed the surname to spell ‘Wyse’, and the spelling of all his children born after that time was changed.
Henry and Rebecca arrived in Deniliquin in 1849.
Henry wrote his memoirs, which his son later published under the pseudonym ‘Bohemian’ in 1882.
They are now known as The Bohemian Papers and provide a valuable insight into the early settlement of Deniliquin.
Henry was one of the earliest settlers of the south of Deniliquin ‘over the river’.
He bought land in End St, at the first land sales, and set up a store there. He obtained a wine and spirits merchant licence.
He had his home attached to the store - a two-roomed slab hut with a shingle roof.
He could not obtain a publican’s licence as it was considered that the Wanderer Inn over the north amply provided for townsfolk. He became postmaster in 1851.
Henry and Rebecca returned to the Albury district in 1854 before they headed to the New Zealand gold diggings by 1860.
They then returned to Victoria in 1866, where they welcomed one child in Trentham before buying a farm at Temora.
John William Hutchinson Wyse was the eldest of Henry and Rebecca’s children.
He was born in 1845 and married Augusta Maria Elliott in Corowa on in 1876. They had nine children together.
In 1883, he became the editor of the Deniliquin Pastoral Times.
Mr Thomas Hunter sold the paper to him in 1893, and he was still owner at the time of his death in 1900.
John’s death was reported in the news as follows:
The death of Mr JWH Wyse, the proprietor of the ‘Pastoral Times’ and ‘Riverine Advertiser’ newspapers, has removed from amongst us, a gentleman who, in his professional career as a journalist, was regarded with the highest esteem by the whole community, and who, as a townsman, took such a prominent part in every movement concerning the welfare of the town, that his decease will leave a vacancy which it will be indeed hard to fill.
Mr John William Hutchinson Wyse was born in Albury and was educated at the Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne.
Before his arrival in Deniliquin, and when the Kelly gang was terrorising the whole community with their daring acts of lawlessness, he was appointed a special constable, and as a special correspondent of the ‘Melbourne Herald’ and ‘Corowa Free Press’ he was present at Glenrowan when the Kelly gang was captured.
When he took possession of the Pastoral Times in 1882 he wielded a pen in a free and fearless manner, and handed his objects with that degree of earnestness which invariable carried his readers with him.
He has the distinction of being one of the most outspoken of journalists, and he was a leader of journalists in the district.
Two of John and Augusta’s children had links to Deniliquin.
Murray Aloysious Hutchinson Wyse was born in Albury in 1880.
He followed in his father’s occupation and became the Deniliquin Pastoral Times’ editor after the death of his father.
He married Audrey Jane in October 1915, purchasing Nowa Nowa at the same time.
Murray is credited with having first introduced gas power to the printing business, then electrical power and the linotype machine to Deniliquin.
He was always in touch with civic planning and progress of the town.
Murray was the chairman of the board of directors of Eliot’s Riverine Brewery Company, secretary of the Deniliquin Jockey Club for 46 years, and trustee of the Recreation Ground, racecourse and the School of the Arts.
He was also a showgrounds judge and handicapper at local race meetings, a justice of the peace and coroner for 25 years.
He was deeply interested in the cultural development of the district and was a great advocate of progress in the town.
His association with the Pastoral Times lasted 52 years, with the exception of 15 months spent in Queensland.
He died in August 1946, aged 66. His funeral indicated the esteem that he gained in the town, with more than 70 cars following the cortège.
Murray and Audrey had one daughter, Audrey Graham Wyse - more commonly known as ‘Babe’. She was born in Deniliquin in 1916.
In 1949, young Audrey broadcasted and was a keynote speaker at the NSW Country Press Association’s annual conference in Sydney.
‘Babe’ married Dennis Smith in Melbourne in 1952 when she was 36.
They have one daughter, Audrey Jane Smith, who lives in Queensland and has donated Wyse family memorabilia to the Deniliquin Historical Society.
Murray’s sister Murial Gwendoline Hutchinson Wyse, who was born in 1882 in Corowa.
Muriel became a nurse and was a head sister at ‘Bondington’ at Wentworth Falls.
She then nursed at the Alfred Hospital from 1914 and served in WWI as a staff nurse, enlisting on April 25, 1917 and serving in France.
In 1920, she was appointed matron of the Kuring-Gai Red Cross Sanitorium.
She later became matron of the Deniliquin Hospital and then ran Wangaratta’s ‘Lister’ private hospital.
She returned to her position of matron at Deniliquin Hospital in 1936, and then moved on to Springwood in NSW in 1954 where she lived with her sister, Bona.
Muriel died at Falconbridge, NSW in February 1956. She did not marry.
• There is a lot more to the Wyse family’s story, which is explored in Nicole Jenkins’ podcast series, Family History Mysteries. ‘The Wyse Family’ is Bonus Episode #11.
• If you wish to view the Wyse Family collection donated to the Deniliquin & District Historical Society, the Macauley St museum is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10am to noon, or at other times by appointment - call 0428 359 297.