Wisemans Ferry

Named after Solomon Wiseman, who established a ferry service across the Hawkesbury River in 1827.

Wiseman’s Ferry is unique with its Courthouse Cave, convict built road and carved stone lions that guard the old stone steps of the Inn. It was named after Solomon Wiseman, and is a small farming settlement on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. By 1821 settlement had arrived at the mouth of the McDonald River, and opposite, at Portland Head and Solomom Wiseman opened an Inn called The Packet. In 1827 he obtained a license for a ferry across the River thus giving the name to the place. A dying convict who Wiseman had flogged is said to have cursed him, and years later the burial vault of Wiseman and his wife was broken open, the coffin smashed and bones scattered. The Inn is said to be haunted.