The grandson of
Sir William Wiseman, 8th Baronet, a British naval officer, he was educated at
Winchester College and
Jesus College, Cambridge. He was appointed a
second lieutenant in the
Cardigan Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) on 30 April 1902. As a businessman, before the outbreak of the
First World War he was chairman in London of Hendens Trust. From 1914, he served as a
lieutenant colonel with the
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry but, following injury, transferred to military intelligence. He was sent by
Secret Intelligence Service director,
Mansfield Smith-Cumming, to establish the agency's office in
New York, 'Section V'. Wiseman was also a mentor to spy chief
William Stephenson. After the war, Wiseman was a participant in the
1919 Paris Peace Conference. He remained in the U.S. as an employee of Kuhn Loeb, becoming a partner in 1929. ==References==