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.

Title
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.
Publication Date
2006
Author(s)
Lunney, Mark
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1462-5960
Email: mlunney@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:mlunney
Type of document
Review
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
University of New England, School of Humanities
Place of publication
Australia
UNE publication id
une:2037
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.
Link
Citation
Journal of Australian Colonial History, 8(1), p. 216-219
ISSN
1441-0370
Start page
216
End page
219

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