Reluctant Democrat

Aristocrat by birth, autocrat by nature, and officer of the Royal Engineers by training, Sir William Denison became a Governor in Australia in the mid 19th century at a time of momentous change.

Arriving in Tasmania in 1847, he provided strong and controversial leadership while debate on convict transportation raged. His support for its continuance (he had the convicts doing valuable public work) caused a furore amongst the free community and unwillingly he had to yield. The Colonial Office in London was impressed and promoted him “Governor-General” of New South Wales in 1855.

There, his tenure co-incided with the start of Responsible Government (1856), a concept he despised, and which he did his best to subvert. His battles with the new parliamentarians were fierce if ultimately unavailing, but again his conduct found favour with the Imperial Government who promoted him to Governor of the Presidency of Madras (and, for an important period, Acting Viceroy of India).

Sir William Denison concluded his service to the Crown in 1866, and is remembered as one who “stood among the first class of Governors”.

Dr J M Bennett AM In the thirteenth and most ambitious volume in his series of judicial aaC--A"livesaaC--Au, Sir Alfred Stephen, Third Chief Justice of NSW (1844-1873), John Michael Bennett continues a project he began as a Senior Research Fellow in Law at the Australian National University 40 years ago. Described by Australian Historical Studies as a series that adds aaC--A"an important missing dimension in the field of legal history in Australia [and makes] engaging reading, it reflects Dr Bennett's fastidious research coupled with his long experience in professional law practice and in various academic positions. His extensive publications, chiefly in Legal History, but also as a law reporter and sometime Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Digest, have received much recognition and praise. He was twice awarded the C H Currey Memorial Fellowship by the State Library of New South Wales; was a Churchill Fellow in 2000; and received the New South Wales History Fellowship 2006 for the writing the biography of Sir Alfred Stephen. On examination of published works, he has received the rare degrees of Doctor of Laws (Sydney) and Doctor of letters (ANU); and he is an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Sydney). A Life Member of The New South Wales Bar Association, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 for services to the law. Titles by Dr J M Bennett AM: Sir William a'Beckett - First Chief Justice of Victoria 1852-1857 Sir Archibald Burt - First Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1861-1879 Reluctant Democrat - Sir William Denison in Australia 1847 - 1861 - Forthcoming Release Sir James Cockle - First Chief Justice of Queensland, 1863-1879 Sir Charles Cooper - First Chief Justice of South Australia, 1856-1861 Sir James Dowling - Second Chief Justice of New South Wales, 1837-1844 Sir Francis Forbes - First Chief Justice of New South Wales, 1823-1837 Sir John Pedder - First Chief Justice of Tasmania, 1824-1854 Lives of Australian Chief Justices Set Sir Valentine Fleming - Second Chief Justice of Tasmania 1854-1869, Acting Chief Justice 1872-1874 Sir Henry Wrenfordsley - Second Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1880-1883 Sir William Stawell - Second Chief Justice of Victoria, 1857-1886 Sir James Martin - Premier 1863-1865, 1866-1868, 1870-1872 and Fourth Chief Justice 1873-1886 of New South Wales Colonial Law Lords - The Judiciary and the Beginning of Responsible Government in New South Wales George Higinbotham - Third Chief Justice of Victoria Callaghan's Diary - The 1840s Sydney Diary of Thomas Callaghan of the King's Inns, Dublin, Barrister-at-Law Sir Alfred Stephen - Third Chief Justice of New South Wales 1844-1873

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