Person
Stawell, William Foster (1815 - 1889)
KCMG
- Born
- 27 June 1815
Old Court, County Cork, Ireland - Died
- 12 March 1889
Naples, Italy - Occupation
- Science patron, Member of Parliament and Judge
Summary
Sir William Stawell was Chief Justice of Victoria from 1857 to 1886, having earlier been a member of parliament, and Attorney-General for the Victorian Government from 1851 to 1857. In that role he did much of the work in setting up Victoria's administration, public service and governmental machinery, including the court system and the drafting of the Constitution Bill of 1854. He took an active part in the intellectual life of the colony, being a foundation member of the University of Melbourne Council, President of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, and Chairman of the Exploration Committee which organised the Victorian Exploring Expedition.
Details
Chronology
- 1837
- Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- 1839
- Career event - Called to the Bar in England and Ireland
- 1842
- Life event - Migrated to Victoria
- 1843
- Career event - Admitted to the Victorian Bar
- 1843 - 1851
- Career event - In private practice in Victoria
- 1851 - 1856
- Career position - Official Member of the Legislative Council of Victoria
- 1851 - 1857
- Career position - Attorney-General, Government of Victoria
- 1853 - 1889?
- Career position - Foundation Member of Council, University of Melbourne
- 1854 - 1855
- Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of Victoria
- 1855 - 1859
- Career position - Member, Philosophical Institute of Victoria
- 1857 - 1886
- Career position - Chief Justice of Victoria
- 1858 - 1859
- Career position - President, Philosophical Institute of Victoria
- 1860 - 1889?
- Career position - Member, Royal Society of Victoria
- 1874
- Award - Honorary MA and LLB, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- 1886
- Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)
- 1886
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Children
Published resources
Book Sections
- Francis, Charles, 'Stawell, Sir William Foster (1815-1889)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 174-177. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060198b.htm. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q8009261. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/43472141. Details
- 'Stawell, William Foster', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-510565. Details
See also
- Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/index_s.html. Details
- Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
Digital resources
Helen Morgan and Helen Cohn
Created: 24 August 2000, Last modified: 4 June 2019
- Foundation Supporter - Royal Society of Victoria