Brother Lambert Wise

Brother Francis Lambert Wise (born 21 December 1920) was a member of the Christian Brothers who predominantly worked/served in South Australia and Western Australia. In the 1950s, Brother Lambert worked in the following orphanages which were run by the Christian Brothers in Western Australia:

Brother Lambert was later transferred to South Australia by the Christian Brothers in the late 1950s and taught/served at the following schools:

  • Christian Brothers College, Adelaide (teacher and sports coach);

  • Rostrevor College, Adelaide (approximately 1957 to 1963 - teacher and dormitory master); and

  • St Paul’s College, Gilles Plains (Adelaide).

Research online indicates that Brother Lambert Wise might have taught in the South Australian state system as a lay teacher after leaving the Christian Brothers.

Royal Commission records show that Brother Lambert Wise had a very chequered past with the Christian Brothers. When he was at Castledare, the Christian Brothers had received numerous complaints between 1952 to 1966 in relation to Brother Lambert’s behaviour on how he used to treat boys for bruises and other minor medical issues in the privacy of his own room. He would also make boys make his bed for him which was not the norm. He was consequently advised to ceased from doing so and in making other arrangements for boys to be treated medically without the need for them to go to his room. In a letter dated 7 January 1954 between two Christian Brother superiors, is was suggested to let:

“Brother L O’Doherty (Brother Superior of Castledare) know, during the next visitation, of the desirability of keeping Brother Lambert Wise away from all supervision of the boys except perhaps when they are in the field. His relations with the boys have given rise for concern, before, and for everybody’s sake, the greatest care should be taken to protect both him and the boys.”

In 1957, Brother Lambert Wise was transferred to Melbourne and told to leave Castledare as soon as possible after serving four years there.

The Royal Commission records also show that Brother Lambert Wise’s behaviour was the same while at Bindoon with the Royal Commission receiving submissions from former residents making allegations that Brother Lambert Wise had sexually abused them. One submission states that Brother Lambert Wise (amongst other Brothers there) would look at the boys in a ‘lustful way’ when supervising them in the shower room at Bindoon. Another submission stated that each night at Bindoon the dormitory would be visited by the Brothers (including Brother Lambert Wise), ‘who either took individual boys into their room, or molested them in front of us’.

A visitation report for Bindoon in 1948 stated that the Superior ‘cannot get out of his head an opinion he formed of Br Lambert [Wise] when he was at the stage of being a big boy amongst the boys, and still fears his judgment regarding familiarity’. The report also stated that Brother Wise ‘was given very definite and serious advice during the Visitation regarding correct attitude and demeanour towards the boys’. The report also cautioned that boys ‘should not be allowed to make up a Brother’s bedroom’. Another visitation report on Bindoon dated April 1952 stated that the practice of sending boys to Brother Wise’s room for attention to bruises and similar complaints is ‘dangerous and unnecessary with the Nuns available’.

In South Australia, as the Christian Brothers new of Brother Lambert Wise behaviour they continued to warn the appropriate Brothers in authority of Brother Lambert Wise. In August 1957, the superior general wrote to the Provincial of St Patrick’s Province, Brother Thomas Garvey, about Brother Lambert Wise:

‘Perhaps you do not know that there was some reason in the past to believe that contact with boys constituted a danger to him.’ The letter continued, ‘If the weakness really was there, it is the kind of thing, unfortunately, that does not easily die, but has the habit of unexpectedly reasserting itself’.

Brother Wise was later the subject of a letter from the Superior General in Dublin, Brother Clancy, to the Provincial in Melbourne dated 27 August 1957. In that letter Brother Clancy stated:

“I notice that Brother Lambert Wise is a member of your teaching staff at Rostrevor – a Boarding College. Perhaps you do not know that there was some reason in the past to believe that contact with boys constituted a danger to him. If the weakness really was there, it is the kind of thing, unfortunately, that does not easily die, but has the habit of unexpectedly reasserting itself … My only reason for mentioning it now is lest you may not be aware of the position, and because I have good reason to know what unfortunate happenings have occurred with others in the past.”

It is has been reported that the Christian Brothers were aware of Brother Lambert Wise’s behaviour but they continued to do nothing positively to stop it. In 2009, Brother Lambert Wise (who was 88 at the time) was found not guilty of indecent assault and buggery charges involving two students. The allegations go back to the time Brother Lambert Wise taught at Christian Brothers College in the 1960s. The court also has previously heard allegations that Wise caned a 11-year-old boy after accusing him of stealing money, then raped him. Furthermore, the Court heard allegations that he indecently assaulted a nine-year old boy during a school cricket team outing to the movies. Brother Lambert Wise was declared unfit to stand trial but the court took evidence.

Moody Law has in the past represent and is currently representing clients who have made allegations of sexual and physical abuse by various members of the Christian Brothers at numerous institutions and schools including Castledare, Bindoon and Clontarf in Western Australia.

We invite former victims of Brother Lambert Wise to contact us with what information they may have, and we will confidentially explain what options are available to help with these cases.

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.