Overview

In 1842, a young Anglo-Irish barrister, finding there were “40 hats on the Munster circuit but not enough work for 20”, set sail for the even younger settlement of Melbourne. William Stawell quickly made his mark in the nascent city, becoming Attorney-General within 10 years. He was a leading political figure and Governor Hotham’s chief adviser, as the colony moved towards self-government in the heady, unstable prosperity of the gold rush. He was, wrote the Argus, “The Government”. \nThe catastrophic treason trials following the Eureka Rebellion should have sent Stawell to political oblivion – but they did not and, soon after, he was elected to the first Victorian Parliament under the new Constitution he had helped to write. A year later, in 1857, he manoeuvred himself into position as the Colony’s second Chief Justice, serving with great distinction for almost 30 years. \nThe foreword to this biography comments “as a judge, and Chief Justice, Stawell was ideal for his times”. Dr Bennett reveals Stawell as an epitome of Victorian manly virtues: intellect, ambition, energy, bravery, charm, compassion. He shows why detractors would add arrogance, impatience and ruthlessness, and why history sustains the contemporary verdict on Stawell’s death in 1889: “one may see in the life now terminated the history of Victoria personified”

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9781862875203

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Readers of my reviews will already know how much I have enjoyed earlier Lives , so it will come as no surprise that this latest offering from Dr. Bennett has been, for me, another fascinating excursion into our past. ... Stawells' position in relation to the circumstances in which as Governor (or acting Governor) he could dismiss a government, remain very topical to this day. Perhaps of equal interest is the detail of how Stawell came to be appointed Chief Justice. In those days, as, one might say, even today, politics has a great deal to do with many appointments. Stawell, contrary to many earlier biographies, had enjoyed a substantial reputation among his peers and had been Attorney General both before and after the separation of Victoria from New South Wales. He was very much a hands on Attorney, frequently appearing to prosecute, drafting legislation, speaking in favour of it in the Parliament and even writing to a magistrate to criticise his failures in properly attesting amendments to depositions taken before him. Like many earlier subjects of Dr. Bennett's research, I gained a strong impression that Sir William Stawell was a man who was ahead of his time, one who had a prodigious capacity for work, who was devoted to the law and who was quite unfairly treated by various newspapers of the time ... Victoria has much more reason than an annual race or a small town to remember this great Australian lawyer and once again, Dr. Bennett has left it to us, the reader, to recognise how significant a figure Sir William Stawell was, in the development of politics and the law in the State of Victoria. - BJM, Tasmanian Law Society Newsletter

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