JM Bennett, 'The Lives of the Australian Chief Justices: Sir Henry Wrenfordsley': Federation Press, Leichhardt, 2004, Hbk, ISBN 1 86287528 6, xiv + 146 pp, $49.50; 'The Lives of the Australian Chief Justices: Sir William Stawell', Federation Press, Leichhardt, 2004, Hbk, ISBN 1 86287 520 0, xv + 239 pp, $49.50.

Abstract

These two biographies – of Sir Henry Wrenfordsley, second Chief Justice of Western Australia, and Sir William Stawell, second Chief Justice of Victoria, are the latest volumes in Dr JM Bennett's herculean endeavour of writing biographies of all pre-federation Chief Justices of the Australian states. Like the previous works, these biographies are informed by detailed references to contemporary sources and are a product of Dr Bennett's extensive searches of primary sources. Unlike the other volumes, however, the subject of one of these biographies – Sir Henry Wrenfordsley - is subjected to significant criticism, and the contrast in treatment between Wrenfordsley and Stawell raises interesting questions about the qualities that are seen as desirable in judicial appointments and how such views might affect the writing of judicial biography.