Police Magistrate. His first appointment was at Wood's Point in 1872 and in the 1880s he covered a circuit that included Benalla, Seymour, Kilmore, Heathcote, Shepparton and Yarrawonga. According to a letter to the Argus newspaper in 1883, Wyatt resided in Melbourne whilst acting as a PM for this area, travelling by train.
Howitt asked Wyatt to gather information about Aboriginal people in the north east of Victoria, although Wyatt does not appear in Howitt’s list of informants in his 1904 book, nor is mentioned much in the archival sources. His lack of success might have something to do with Howitt’s description of Wyatt as ‘rather crotchety’ – either this personality trait may have affected his capacity to form the necessary relationships, or his sense that this is how Howitt viewed him may have dimmed his enthusiasm for the project. Additionally, residing in Melbourne would have limited his opportunity to engage with either local Aboriginal people or settlers who could have helped Howitt.
Wyatt died in 1901, aged 83.
References:
'The News of the Day', The Age, 14 September, p. 4, accessed 5 June 2020,