| Sir Samuel Griffith GCMG | |
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| In office 13 November 1883 – 13 June 1888 |
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| Appointed by | Alfred Deakin |
| Preceded by | Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
| Succeeded by | Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
| In office 12 August 1890 – 27 March 1893 |
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| Preceded by | Boyd Morehead |
| Succeeded by | Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
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| In office October 5, 1903 – 17 October 1919 |
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| Succeeded by | Sir Adrian Knox |
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| Born | 21 June 1845 Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, UK |
| Died | 9 August 1920 (aged 75) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Spouse | Julia Janet Thomson |
Sir Samuel Walter Griffith, GCMG, (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice and the principal author of the Constitution of Australia. See Premiers of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Premier Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919 Australian politician was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later second Prime Minister Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG ( 17 May 1835 &ndash 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial Politics Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG ( 17 May 1835 &ndash 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial Politics Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Boyd Dunlop Morehead ( 24 August 1843 &ndash 30 October 1905) was premier of Queensland, Australia from November 1888 to Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG ( 17 May 1835 &ndash 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial Politics The Chief Justice of Australia is the senior justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia. Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Sir Adrian Knox KCMG PC (29 November 1863 – 27 April 1932 Australian Judge, was the second Chief Justice of the High Court Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Merthyr Tydfil today Government The current Borough boundaries date back to 1974 when the former county borough of Merthyr Tydfil expanded slightly to cover The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. See Premiers of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Premier The Chief Justice of Australia is the senior justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution of Australia is the law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates
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Early life
Griffith was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, the younger son of the Rev. Merthyr Tydfil today Government The current Borough boundaries date back to 1974 when the former county borough of Merthyr Tydfil expanded slightly to cover Edward Griffith, a Congregational minister and his wife, Mary, second daughter of Peter Walker. Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism is a system of Church governance in which every Local church congregation is independent Though of Welsh extraction, his forbears for at least three generations were natives of England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The family migrated to Queensland when Samuel was eight. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent He was educated at schools in Ipswich, Sydney, Maitland and Brisbane (from 1860), towns where his father was a minister, then at the University of Sydney, where he graduated B.A. in 1863 with first-class honours in classics, mathematics and natural science. Ipswich is a city and Local Government Area situated on the Bremer River in South East Queensland, Australia. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland The University of Sydney (informally Sydney Uni or USyd) is the oldest university in Australia During his course he was awarded the Cooper and Barker scholarships and other prizes. On his return to Brisbane he studied law and was articled to Arthur Macalister, in one of whose ministries Griffith afterwards had his first portfolio. Arthur Macalister, CMG (1818 &ndash 23 March 1883 was twice Premier of Queensland, Australia. In 1865 he gained the T. S. Mort Travelling Fellowship. Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (1816-1878 was born at Bolton, Lancashire, England. Going to Europe he spent some of his time in Italy, and became much attached to the Italian people and their literature. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Many years after he was to become the first Australian translator of Dante (The Inferno of Dante Alighieri in 1908). He then studied law in Brisbane, where he was called to the bar in 1867, and in 1870 he returned to Sydney to complete an M.A.. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland The Call to the Bar is a legal Term of art in most Common law jurisdictions A Master of Arts ( Latin: Magister Artium) is a Postgraduate academic Master's degree awarded by universities in a large In the same year he married Julia Janet Thomson.
Political career
In 1872 Griffith was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly. The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the Unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. [1] Throughout his career he saw himself as a lawyer first and a politician second, and continued to appear at the Bar even when he was in office. In Parliament he gained a reputation as a liberal reformer. He was Attorney-General, Minister for Education and Minister for Works, and became leader of the liberal party in 1879. His great enemy was the conservative leader Sir Thomas McIlwraith, whom he accused (correctly) of corruption. Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG ( 17 May 1835 &ndash 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial Politics
Griffith became Premier in November 1883 displacing McIlwraith. Griffith won the next election largely on his policy of preventing the importation of Kanaka labour from the islands. He passed an act for this purpose[1], but it was found that the danger of the destruction of the sugar industry was so great that the measure was never made operative. Recruiting was, however, placed under regulations and some of the worst abuses were swept away. Griffith took a special interest in British New Guinea, and was eventually responsible for the sending of Sir William MacGregor there in 1888. The Territory of Papua was a de facto Australian possession comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, existing from roughly 1902 Sir William MacGregor GCMG, CB, (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919 was a Governor of Newfoundland and Governor of Queensland.
He held the Premier's office until 1888, and was made KCMG in 1886, GCMG in 1895. The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George Prince Regent (later George He was regarded as a close ally of the labour movement. He introduced a bill to legalise trade unions, and declared that "the great problem of this age is not how to accumulate wealth but how to secure its more equitable distribution. " In 1888 his government was defeated. In opposition he wrote radical articles for The Boomerang, William Lane's socialist newspaper. William Lane ( 6 September 1861 – 26 August 1917) was a Journalist, pioneer of the Australian labour movement and
But in 1890 Griffith suddenly betrayed his radical friends and became Premier again at the head of an unlikely alliance with McIlwraith, the so-called "Griffilwraith. The Continuous Ministry or Continuous Cabinet was an informal designation used to describe the grouping in the Queensland Parliament that existed from 1890 to 1899 " The following year his government used the military to break the great shearers' strike, and he earned the nickname "Oily Sam. " Griffith had had a distinguished career in Queensland politics. Included in the legislation for which he was responsible were an offenders' probation act, and an act which codified the law relating to the duties and powers of justices of the peace. He also succeeded in passing an eight hours bill through the assembly which was, however, thrown out by the Queensland Legislative Council. The Queensland Legislative Council was the Upper house of the Parliament in the Australian state of Queensland, until its abolition by the
Support for federation
Griffith was always a supporter of the Federation of Australia. The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South At the intercolonial conference held at Sydney in November 1883 James Service, the Victorian premier, thought that Australia was ready for a real federal government, but Griffith, who was not prepared to go so far, moved and carried a resolution providing that a federal council should be formed to deal with the defence of Australasia, matters relating to the islands and Australia, quarantine, the prevention of the influx of criminals, and other matters of common interest to the various colonies. James Service ( 27 November 1823 – 13 April 1899) Australian colonial Politician, was the 12th Premier of Victoria
In 1887 Griffith was one of the Queensland representatives at the colonial conference held in London, where he initiated the debate on the question of preferential trade and proved himself to be one of the outstanding men at the conference. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He headed the Queensland delegation to the 1891 Sydney Constitutional Convention (where he was appointed vice-president), and his fine legal mind brought him a leading role in its deliberations. In Australian history the term Constitutional Convention refers to four distinct gatherings "It fell to my lot to draw the Constitution," he wrote, "after presiding for several days on a Committee, and endeavouring to ascertain the general consensus of opinion. "
This first draft enshrined the basic principles of what eventually emerged as Australia's constitution: a federal system with specified powers ceded by the colonies to a national government, a bicameral legislature with an upper house in which all the colonies would have equal representation, and a federal judiciary.
Chief Justice
On 13 March 1893 Griffith promoted himself from Premier to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland where he served until 4 October 1903. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts Complex, is the superior Court for the Australian State of Queensland Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting He was therefore not a delegate to the 1897 conventions which produced the final draft of the Constitution, but he acted as a behind-the-scenes advisor to Sir Robert Garran, secretary of the Drafting Committee, which followed the structure he had laid out in 1891. Sir Robert Randolph Garran GCMG KC (February 10 1867 &ndash January 11 1957 was an Australian lawyer and public servant an early leading expert in Australian In 1899 he campaigned publicly for a 'yes' vote in the federation referendum in Queensland.
During his term as Chief Justice he drafted Queensland's Criminal Code, the first successful codification anywhere of the entire English criminal law, which was adopted in 1899, and later in Western Australia, Papua New Guinea, substantially in Tasmania, and other imperial territories including Nigeria. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal [2] At May 2006 the Queensland Criminal Code remains largely unchanged. May 2006 was a month with thirty-one days The following events also occurred during the month
When the federal Parliament passed the Judiciary Act in 1903 which created the High Court of Australia, Griffith was the natural choice as the first Chief Justice; the position for which he was indeed appointed. The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. During his sixteen years on the bench Griffith sat on some 950 reported cases. In 1913 he visited England and sat on the Privy Council. After 1910 his health declined, and in 1917 he suffered a stroke. He retired from the Court in 1919 and died at his home in Brisbane on 9 August 1920. Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar He is commemorated by the naming of Griffith University, with campuses throughout Queensland's South-East, the suburb of Griffith in Canberra, and the federal electoral division of Griffith. Griffith University is a public university based in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast Queensland, Australia. South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. Griffith ( postcode: 2603 is an early inner-south suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Canberra ( is the capital city of Australia With a population of over 340000 it is Australia's largest inland City. The Division of Griffith is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The Samuel Griffith Society is a conservative organisation dedicated to defending what it sees as the principles of the Constitution - particularly, the principle of states' rights. The Samuel Griffith Society was founded by former Chief Justice Sir Harry Gibbs, John Stone and others in 1992 to promote discussion of constitutional matters through Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined States' rights refers to the idea in US politics and constitutional law, that U His portrait, by Richard Godfrey Rivers, hangs in the Brisbane Supreme Court. Richard Godfrey Rivers (c1859 – 4 February 1925) was an English artist active in Australia and president of the Queensland Art Society from
Further reading
- Roger B Joyce, Samuel Walker Griffith, University of Queensland Press, 1984
See also
References
- ^ a b Roberts, Beryl (1991). The Judiciary in Australia is modelled substantially on the system of courts which existed in England. This is a list of judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland, including former judges Stories of the Southside. Archerfield, Queensland: Aussie Books, 6. ISBN 094733601X.
- ^ Bruce McPherson, Supreme Court of Queensland, Butterworths, 1984
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Griffith, Samuel Walker". Dictionary of Australian Biography. The Dictionary of Australian Biography, published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
- R. B. Joyce, 'Griffith, Sir Samuel Walker (1845 - 1920)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, MUP, 1983, pp 112-119. The Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB or AuDB is a multi-volume project published by Melbourne University Press. Melbourne University Publishing (MUP is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne ( Australia)
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The Dictionary of Australian Biography, published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
Premier of Queensland 1883 – 1888 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
| Preceded by Boyd Morehead |
Premier of Queensland 1890 – 1893 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas McIlwraith |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by none |
Chief Justice of Australia 1903 – 1919 |
Succeeded by Sir Adrian Knox |
| Preceded by Charles Lilley |
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland 1893 - 1903 |
Succeeded by Pope Alexander Cooper |
| Justices of the High Court of Australia |  |
|---|---|
| Chief Justices of Australia | |
| Griffith · Knox · Isaacs · Gavan Duffy · Latham · Dixon · Barwick · Gibbs · Mason · Brennan · Gleeson | |
| Puisne Justices | |
| Barton · O'Connor · Higgins · Powers · Piddington · Rich · Starke · Evatt · McTiernan · Williams · Webb · Fullagar · Kitto · Taylor · Menzies · Windeyer · Owen · Walsh · Stephen · Jacobs · Murphy · Aickin · Wilson · Deane · Dawson · Toohey · Gaudron · McHugh · Gummow · Kirby · Hayne · Callinan · Heydon · Crennan · Kiefel | |
| current Justices are in italics | |
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