Cirrus@Austlit

'Introducing his May it Please Your Honour, a history of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (with Geraldine Byrne, 2005), the eminent Australian historian Geoffrey Bolton wrote that readers would "encounter the law in Western Australia not as a bloodless study ... but as a vigorous and lively contributor to the health of a democratic society".The present authors confront a similar problem as readers in the early 21st century seem to find judicial biography of distant Australian years to be too remote to be interesting and to be too legal for historians and too historical for lawyers. That prima facie impression has proved repeatedly to have been an error of judgement - especially when made without reading the relevant volumes.That is a pity as, of the 17 subjects in this series, nearly all lived interesting lives in exciting times that contain many lessons for the future. Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith, the present subject, is no exception. But, unlike other Australian Chief Justices of the 19th century, he was the offspring of an English merchant and a very dark-skinned Haitian woman. He inherited her sable complexion and suffered outrageous taunts and slurs on that account throughout his remarkable career.Born in Haiti (1819) but educated in London and called to the English Bar he was a prize-winning scholar who, to general surprise, returned to the semi-rural estate his father created near Hobart.Admitted to the Tasmanian Bar, F. V. Smith was an immediate success professionally and politically, being fourth Premier (post Responsible Government); Supreme Court Judge 1860-1870; and Chief Justice 1870-1885. His adventures along the way make for absorbing reading while again revealing important ingredients in the "health of a democratic society". (Publication summary)

'J M Bennett’s new biography shows the mercurial figure of Lilley to be one of the giants of colonial Australia, a politician who took on the squatter class and forced democratic reform, earning the enduring, virulent hatred of his opponents; a Chief Justice of brilliant calibre until his one disastrous mistake.

'“Sir Charles Lilley has proven a polarising figure, often subject to caricature and ridicule. As Dr Bennett observes, the record of Lilley’s formidable achievements has been distorted by adversaries, particularly the mostly hostile press of the time, or overshadowed by some infamous errors of judgment. All of this has to date inhibited a balanced appraisal of his life. Dr Bennett’s biography goes a long way towards redressing the imbalance.' (Publication summary)

'On 19 September 2006 Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court declared that the Noongar people of south-west Western Australia held native title over Perth. It was a stunning decision. For the first time, the enduring connection of an Indigenous group to a metropolitan area was recognised in a Court proceeding. It seemed that the myth of cultural destruction in the settled south was finally upended. The euphoric claimants shed tears of joy.' (Introduction)

'Sir Alfred Stephen (1802-1894) was descended from generations of Stephens celebrated in England for their contributions to the law, literature, politics and public administration. A creature of the nineteenth century, Sir Alfred personified its values. Born at St Kitts, educated in England and there called to the Bar, he at first progressed so slowly that he decided to return to the colonies. As a pioneer Crown Law Officer in Tasmania he was ambitious, aggressive, and astonishingly successful financially. But, lacking tact, he fell out with the Lt-Governor and the judiciary.

'Taking another chance, he accepted a temporary judgeship at Sydney (1839), won immediate respect, and became Chief Justice (1844), serving with great accomplishment until 1873 - a term never equaled in New South Wales. He was first President of the Legislative Council after Responsible Government (1856), returning to the Council on resigning as Chief Justice. His many public services included being Lt-Governor; helping to establish The University of Sydney; and supporting such institutions as hospitals, museums and art galleries. Despite the difficulty, on a fixed income, of providing for his many children, he was great philanthropist. His name and works, now much forgotten, but of world renown in his day, are recalled in this biography by Dr John Michael Bennett, AM, whose project to write it was awarded the 2006 News South Wales History Fellowship.'  (Publication summary)

'George Higinbotham’s extreme and uncompromising radical views and mesmerizing oratory have made him an iconic figure in Victoria’s colonial history – the darling of the liberals and the left. John Bennett has written a major re-assessment of this giant who was a dominating figure from the 1850s until his death in 1892.

'Higinbotham was successively a gold digger who found no gold; a barrister who found few briefs; a crusading editor of Melbourne’s Argus; an independent member of Parliament who opposed political parties and ferociously attacked the “squatter” dominated Legislative Council and the Colonial Office; an overtly democratic Attorney-General who advocated government without supply; and Chief Justice of Victoria when his political dreams all foundered.

'Yet he drew others to him as a Pied Piper. He was a mass of contradictions. Extraordinarily charitable to beggars, he treated his family miserably. A failure in achievement, he retained an enormous popularity which has endured for over a century.'  (Publication summary)

'Intelligence, ambition and self-belief took Martin, the son of the Governor's Irish groom, to the pinnacles of colonial law and politics. He is the only man to have been both been Premier and Chief Justice of New South Wales. He made his name as a fierce and partisan contributor to the vitriolic political debates of the 1840s.'   (Publication summary)

'In 1842, a young Anglo-Irish barrister, finding there were “40 hats on the Munster circuit but not enough work for 20”, set sail for the even younger settlement of Melbourne. William Stawell quickly made his mark in the nascent city, becoming Attorney-General within 10 years. He was a leading political figure and Governor Hotham’s chief adviser, as the colony moved towards self-government in the heady, unstable prosperity of the gold rush. He was, wrote the Argus, “The Government”.

'The catastrophic treason trials following the Eureka Rebellion should have sent Stawell to political oblivion – but they did not and, soon after, he was elected to the first Victorian Parliament under the new Constitution he had helped to write. A year later, in 1857, he manoeuvred himself into position as the Colony’s second Chief Justice, serving with great distinction for almost 30 years.

'The foreword to this biography comments “as a judge, and Chief Justice, Stawell was ideal for his times”. Dr Bennett reveals Stawell as an epitome of Victorian manly virtues: intellect, ambition, energy, bravery, charm, compassion. He shows why detractors would add arrogance, impatience and ruthlessness, and why history sustains the contemporary verdict on Stawell’s death in 1889: “one may see in the life now terminated the history of Victoria personified”'  (Publication summary)

'James Cockle was a brilliant mathematician, a future Fellow of the Royal Society, appointed Chief Justice of Queensland in the most stormy and unpromising of circumstances.

'When he came to Queensland in 1863, relations between the government and A.J.P Lutwyche, the resident Supreme Court Judge, were in a state of turmoil.  Lutwyche, whose expectation of promotion to Chief had been dashed, had recently declared Queensland's infant Parliament and all its Acts invalid. The Law Officers in England agreed and Lutwyche continued to attack the government, looking for other legislation to invalidate. The Queensland Government begged the Colonial Office to find a Chief Justice in England and Cockle was appointed.

'Conciliatory, dignified, scrupulously impartial, and proficient as a lawyer, Cockle calmed the storms left by Lutwyche - and calmed Lutwyche who continued to sit on the bench as junior judge. Yet he was an enigmatic figure who was poorly recognised by Queensland governments. Poorly paid (Lutwyche had the higher salary), he resigned and returned to England and mathematical studies shortly after he qualified for a pension in 1878.'  (Publication summary)