Wise was born at
Stoke Damerel, in
Plymouth, a son of David Woodifield Wise and his wife Harriet Blanche Wise, née Sheppard. Percy was educated at
Clewer House School and
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1893, and where his circle of friends included the architect
Thomas Henry Lyon,
John Cowper Powys and
John Harmer, later Bishop of Adelaide. He undertook religious training at the
Clergy Training School in Cambridge, was made deacon in 1893, ordained as a priest in 1894 and posted as a curate to
Oundle, Northamptonshire. In 1895 he accepted the offer of a curacy at
Christ Church, North Adelaide, married Carrie Lyon, sister of his friend the architect, and boarded a ship bound for South Australia. For two years he served there and as acting chaplain to Bishop Harmer. By November he was preaching at
St Augustine's Church, Unley and St Peter's Cathedral. In 1897 Wise was appointed to the
Church Of The Epiphany,
Crafers, where his energy and infectious enthusiasm breathed new life into the congregation. The church debt was paid off, and a parish room built on church grounds. He was acclaimed as a fine orator and inspiring preacher. In April 1900 Wise and his wife left for England. She died
en route in
Manila; her remains would not be interred for another five years. He spent three months working with a Corpus Christi College charity in South London and the remainder in Asia and North America essentially as a tourist. He returned in December to take charge of the
Goodwood area which encompassed
West Adelaide and
Thebarton. The church's previous incumbent was
W. S. Moore (12 July 1830 – 17 July 1901), better known as a long-serving principal of the
Pulteney Street School. The original church building (later to become a schoolroom) was, Wise later recalled, a squalid affair with a declining congregation. and consecrated 1 September 1903. Among its many features included a tiled roof, and a
lady chapel, a "first" for an Anglican church in South Australia. The west window was designed by
Charles Edward Tute (1858 – 4 November 1927) who later settled in Brisbane and designed
bookplates for both Wise and Sir
Samuel Way. His confidence was well-founded. The church was full to overflowing every week, and to parishioners who objected to the sumptuousness and ritual of the new order, Bishop Harmer advised "go to
St Luke's or
St Augustine's," but not to bother their rector. A year later he left Adelaide for ten months' holiday in Britain and the "
Holy Land"; an elaborate farewell, rivalling that of accorded to church dignitaries on their retirement (including the traditional "purse of
sovereigns") was given him by Bishop Harmer and a large assembly. Wise instituted a "Guild of St Mary of Bethany" to make all the vestments and banners and a "Guild of St George" incorporating four "wards", to supply the church with workers: In 1908, following the resignation of
Canon Tucker, Wise was offered the benefice of
Christ Church, South Yarra,
Melbourne, a handsome church in a genteel and affluent area, but declined to nominate. His parishioners recognised his self-denial with a generous gift of money, which he put towards additional stained glass windows. However, one commentator reckoned he found himself into a position where he could not accept without appearing to have lied. In 1910 Wise proved himself a popular and successful preacher at
St James' Church, Sydney which was looking for a new priest, no offer was made by their Synod, for reasons not stated, but it may have been due to his High Church leanings, which were never in doubt. He had another material display of affection on his tenth anniversary at St George's. On this occasion he was presented with a revolving chair, a
Cutler roll-top desk and a purse of sovereigns. In 1917 Wise established a free
day school in a separate building, funded by parishioners. A handsome publication "Souvenir of St George's". in aid of the school, was brought out in 1918. The school officially closed in 1944. A soldiers' memorial, also designed by Lyon, was unveiled in front of the church on 11 November 1923. It commemorated the 130 men from the church and neighbourhood who lost their lives in the
Great War. ;Anglo-Catholicism Wise was a member of
CBS, an Anglican movement dedicated to adopting or restoring features of Catholicism into Anglican liturgy, influenced by the
Oxford Movement. Bishop Harmer,
Canon Poole and archdeacons
Hornabrook and
Bussell have also been named as sympathetic to what is often referred to as "High Church" or "
Ritualism". In these practices Wise was at odds with Harmer's replacement, Bishop
A. Nutter Thomas. • He introduced to services the
alb and
chasuble and other vestments, one being a 400-year-old rose silk
cope from a Spanish cathedral. • He used candles is services and installed a light to signify the presence of the
Host on the
High Altar. • He promoted
auricular confession, claiming the authority to proclaim
forgiveness of sins which was bestowed by God on priests as part of the gift of ordination. • He observed
Requiem Mass on
All Souls' Day (2 November) and celebrated
Corpus Christi with candles. • He taught the doctrine of
Transubstantiation and the
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. • He asked of his parishioners that they address him as "Father" or "Reverend Father". • In 1918 he published a "Mass Book for Lay Folk" dictating the forms of Mass to be observed in St George's Church, which closely followed the Roman model, down to the
Benediction,
Veneration of the Cross and
Mass of the Presanctified. The newspaper correspondence between Bishop Thomas and Canon Wise following this publication was decidedly cool. These observances or appropriations, which the Roman Catholic church looked on with disfavour, were condoned or even encouraged by Bishop Harmer but his successor Bishop Thomas was torn: ''This divine has the reputation of "building a church wherever he goes" and has "brought much money into the church" — two cogent reasons for being made a big gun in the Cathedral. But besides this he has abilities which would have placed him in front rank in any sphere of life. To untiring energy and prodigious enthusiasm he adds great tact and an astuteness far ahead of most of the wearers of the cloth. He is eminently practical in all things. And he always has an overcrowded church! When a clergyman has a full church there is no need to mention any other of his qualities. St George's, Goodwood, from being a church of small dimensions, with a congregation content to merely exist, is now a proud edifice with a very live congregation. Here incense is regularly used, and the congregation confess to the priest ! Whether this is strictly in keeping with the laws of "the dear old church" signifies little. Canon Wise is a strong man, and he is prepared to take the responsibility.'' In 1920 Bishop Thomas sued Wise in the Ecclesiastical Courts for "breach of ritual", but after several years abandoned the case. Though "defending himself ably" From around 1930 Canon Wise paid little attention to matters outside his church and congregation, Wise resigned his charge due to ill-health on 1 April 1940, to take effect on 7 October having served as rector of St George's for 40 years. His successor was the Rev. Fr. Arnold M. Morralee, who returned to England in 1947. Rev. Fr A. C. R. Hogan arrived in December 1947. Wise died suddenly at his home on Fullarton Road,
Highgate, aged 80, having just returned from a visit to England. Apart from an obituary in
The Advertiser, there was little mention in the Press of his passing — no funeral notice, no tributes and no bequests. His remains were cremated and sent to England, where they were interred with those of his wife in the churchyard in Ilsington, St George's, Goodwood maintains its position as "Australia's leading Anglo-Catholic church" to this day. ==Benefactors==