Family background
Daniel Wildman was born in Maulden, Bedfordshire, England, in 1837. He arrived in Sydney on the ‘Washington Irving’ on 14 April 1855. Wildman was married twice. His first marriage was on 24 December 1857, at East Maitland, to Rebecca Quick, who died in 1858. They had one daughter named Caroline, born in 1857. His second marriage was in 1858, also in Maitland, to Mary Walsh (1836-1923). Two further sons were born in Maitland in 1859 and 1860, and after their move to Sydney they had another five daughters and one son. By 1865, the family lived at Hordern Street, Newtown, but during the early 1870s they moved to Camperdown Road, Camperdown. By late 1878, they resided at their new house ‘Mansfield’ on the eastern side of Station Street, Newtown. Daniel Wildman died on 16 June 1902, by which time he resided at 54 Newtown Road (today City Road), Sydney, near the corner of Myrtle Street. He was buried at Rookwood Cemetery.
Occupation & interests
Daniel Wildman was a builder who worked in a partnership known as Hill and Wildman during the 1870s. In 1878, they undertook alterations to the old Synagogue at York Street for new offices for the Industrial and Permanent Building Society, to the design by later Glebe alderman Ambrose Thornley junior. By 1878, Wildman’s business was located in Enmore Road, between Station and Reiby streets, near his Station Street residence, but the following year he was noted at Queen Street, Newtown.
Community activity
Daniel Wildman was a trustee of the Good Samaritan Division, the Newtown branch of the Sons of Temperance from the 1860s. He built their first, temporary suburban hall in 1868, to the simple design of B Hardaker, another trustee. In 1876, he joined the Masonic Lodge of Newtown Kilwinning which met in the Town Hall. Daniel Wildman was among those suspended in August 1878 because they believed the Lodge should affiliate with the new Australian Lodge rather than remain with the Scottish original.
Local government service
Daniel Wildman was an alderman on Camperdown Council in 1872-73. He was also an alderman on Newtown Council 1879 to 1881, and its mayor in 1880. He was elected as auditor to Newtown Council in 1875, and while alderman on Newtown Council, he served on the Water and Specification and Finance Committees.
References
Biographical information for this alderman was originally researched by Mark Matheson for the Newtown Project Website.
‘List of Births, Marriages and Deaths’, Northern Times, 3 January 1857, 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128758737
‘Newtown Temperance Hall’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 1868, 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13169937
‘Advertising’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 1873, 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13319504
‘Advertising’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October 1876, 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13380988
‘Advertising’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 February 1879, 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13428704
‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 June 1902, 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14443889