Sir Alexander Campbell Onslow (17 July 1842 – 20 October 1908) was the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Onslow is a

forebear An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

of the notable Australian Macarthur- Onslow families.

Biography

Onslow was the fourth son of Arthur Pooley Onslow, of Send Grove, Ripley, Surrey, by his wife, Rosa Roberta, daughter of Alexander Macleay, F.R.S., Speaker of the first New South Wales Legislative Council. Onslow was educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1864. He entered at the Inner Temple on 15 January 1862, was called to the bar on 17 November 1868, and went the Home Circuit. On 4 February 1878, he married Madeline Emma Loftus, daughter of Rev. Robert Loftus Tottenham, of Florence, and granddaughter of the Bishop of Clogher. Onslow was Attorney-General of

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

from 1878 to 1880, and

Attorney-General of Western Australia The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870 ...

from 1880 to 1883. In July of the latter year he was appointed Chief Justice, in which capacity he administered the government during the absence of Sir

Frederick Broome Sir Frederick Napier Broome (18 November 1842 – 26 November 1896) was a colonial administrator in the British Empire, serving in Natal, Mauritius, Western Australia, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The Western Australian towns of Broom ...

in England in 1884–5. Onslow's relations with that Governor having subsequently become strained, the latter threatened Onslow's security of tenure by "interdicting" him from his functions as Chief Justice, for the alleged premature and improper publication of certain correspondence then pending between them and with the Colonial Office. The Executive Council unanimously confirmed the interdict, and placed Mr. Onslow on half-pay pending the decision of the Colonial Office. In the result, Lord Knutsford reinstated Mr. Onslow, but censured him. Ultimately, in view of the attitude assumed by the Chief Justice in adjudicating on certain cases of newspaper libel, the Legislative Council passed a resolution requesting the Home Government, in the interests of tranquillity, to transfer him to some other location. He was accordingly given, a year's leave of absence but this was extended. In February 1890 it was announced that he was to exchange posts with Sir

Elliot Bovill Sir Elliot Charles Bovill (23 April 1848 – 24 March 1893) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Chief Justice of Cyprus and the Straits Settlements in the late 19th century. Early life Bovill was born in Clapham, at that time in Surrey, ...

, Chief Justice of Cyprus. This arrangement did not actually take place and Sir Henry T. Wrensfordsley was sent out to the colony in 1890 as Acting Chief Justice. Mr. Onslow returned to Western Australia and resumed his occupancy of the office of Chief Justice in July 1891. He was Administrator of Western Australia during the Governor's absence from March 1900. He retired in 1901 and returned to England, where he died on 20 October 1908. Onslow was knighted in 1895 for services rendered to the Queen's colonies since 1878.

Family

;Father * Arthur Pooley Onslow - father ;Mother * Rosa Roberta, née McLeay - mother *

Alexander McLeay Alexander Macleay (also spelt McLeay) MLC FLS FRS (24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society, a fellow of the Royal Society and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Life Macleay was born on Ros ...

(1767–1848) - Rosa Roberta's father * Rosa Roberta's siblings **

William Sharp Macleay William Sharp Macleay or McLeay (21 July 1792 – 26 January 1865) was a British civil servant and entomologist. He was a prominent promoter of the Quinarian system of classification. After graduating, he worked for the British embassy in Par ...

(1792–1865) He never married and the heir to his estate was his brother, George W. J. Macleay ** Sir George W. J. Macleay (1809–1891) ** James Robert (1811–1892) secretary of the commission for the suppression of the slave trade in Cape Colony. ** Margaret (b. 1802) married Archibald Clunes Innes (1800–1857) in 1829 ** Christiana Susan (b.1799) married Captain

William Dumaresq William John Dumaresq (25 February 1793 – 9 November 1868) was an English-born military officer, civil engineer, landholder and early Australian politician. He is associated with settler colonisation of the areas around Scone, New South Wa ...

(1793–1868) in 1830 ** Barbara Isabella (b.1797) married Pieter Laurentz Campbell (1809–1948)Hazel King
'Campbell, Pieter Laurentz (1809–1848)'
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, Melbourne University Press, 1966, pp 201-202. in 1834. ;Siblings *

Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow (2 August 1833 – 30 January 1882) was born at Trichinopoly in India to surveyor Arthur Pooley Onslow and Rosa Roberta Macleay. In 1838 was sent to New South Wales, where he lived with his grandfather Alexander ...

(1833–1882) - brother **

James Macarthur-Onslow Major General James William Macarthur-Onslow, (7 November 1867 – 17 November 1946) was a soldier, grazier and politician. The son of a prominent New South Wales family, he was commissioned in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles in 1892 and se ...

- nephew

Biography

Family

See also

References

Further reading