Robert Arthur Wiseman was born at Monmouth on 8 Mar 1886, son of Arthur William Wiseman, MA, Mus. Bac., a schoolmaster at Monmouth Grammar School. He was educated at that school, and at Oxford University, where he was a scholar of Magdalen College. In Mar 1910, he entered the Admiralty, but transferred to the Colonial Office the following year. The papers in this collection, contained in two boxes, cover the years 1916-1951, but are mainly concerned with a period of eight years, 1917-1925. During the First World War, Wiseman served temporarily at the Ministry of Shipping (Box 1). In Feb 1917, he was appointed Secretary to the International Shipping Committee, which was concerned with the requisitioning and use of ships for wartime purposes: minutes and related papers are contained in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 371/1, folder 2. In 1920, he became Principal of the West Indian Department of the Colonial Office, and at the end of the following year accompanied the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, E.F.L. Wood (later Lord Halifax), to the West Indies on a Mission of Enquiry into administrative and other problems. MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 371/2, folder 1 contains papers connected with this tour, including Wiseman's diaries, notes, and reports.

In 1925, he went to Ottawa as Representative of the United Kingdom Government at the Canada-West Indies Trade and Shipping Conference (MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 371/2, folder 2). Papers include a diary, correspondence, and memoranda, minutes of the Conference, and galley proofs of the proceedings on the final day, when appreciation was expressed of the part played by Wiseman 'in bringing together our outstanding claims and merging us into complete accord' (MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 371/2, folder 2, fol. 115). Correspondence contained in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 371/2, folder 3 is concerned chiefly with West Indian affairs, including the opposition to and ratification of the Agreement reached at Ottawa.

In Sep 1927, Wiseman became Assistant Secretary, and transferred to the Dominions Office the following year. He was awarded the CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1937 and retired in 1946. He died in Jul 1955.