Alexander Macduff Baxter (25 June 1798 – 11 March 1834) was a Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician who served as

Attorney General of New South Wales The Attorney General of New South Wales, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for New South Wales and usually known simply as the Attorney General, is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibil ...

between 1827 and 1831. The

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

Sir Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertai ...

, considered him to be incompetent and tried to persuade the Colonial Office to dismiss him, but Baxter resigned in order to become a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. In Tasmania, the

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, Sir George Arthur, managed to prevent Baxter from taking up his post. Baxter returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

later in 1831 and died in 1834.

Early life

Alexander Baxter was born at

Monzievaird Monzievaird () is a place in Scotland, situated west of Crieff in Highland District of Perth and Kinross. The village of Monzie; (pronounced Mon ee) is a couple of miles to the east-northeast. Name The place was originally named Muithauard c.1 ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

to the Reverend Colin Baxter and Jacobina Macduff in 1798. He was admitted as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1819, but his career was unsuccessful and Baxter remained dependent on his father who sought help from

Sir George Murray Sir George Murray (6 February 1772 – 28 July 1846) was a British soldier and politician from Scotland. Background and education Murray was born in Perth, Scotland, the second son of Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre, 5th Baronet (see Murra ...

. Sir George was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Perthshire who would become Colonial Secretary in 1828. As a result, in 1826, Baxter was nominated as

New South Wales and Tasmania

Just as in London, Baxter's legal career in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

was not a success. Within two months of taking up his post, the Governor, Sir Ralph Darling, wrote to the Colonial Office to complain that he was totally inexperienced and incapable of speaking effectively in court. Professionally incompetent, Baxter relied heavily on the new Solicitor General, William Foster and even sought help from other lawyers. Alexander Baxter became a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

in 1829 but continued to fail to gain the Governor's confidence. The Governor and Chief Justice were sometimes required to draft legislation; work that should have been done by Baxter. In 1831, Baxter resigned his post to take up the position of second judge on the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and de ...

. However, in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, the Lieutenant-Governor was appalled by his behaviour and decided that it would have been "a violation of all public decency to have suffered him to take his seat on the Bench". Sir George Arthur agreed to a request for leave of absence from Baxter as a means of getting rid of him.

Private life

In March 1827, shortly before leaving for New South Wales, Baxter married Maria del Rosario Anna Uthair, a Spanish heiress. Their son was born in Sydney on 24 August 1828. Baxter fell out with his wife over his lavish spending, which led to his

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. He became an alcoholic and attacked her violently after she gave birth to twin daughters. When she had the daughters baptised in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith, he left her, taking his young son with him, and Governor Darling helped Maria to return to England. As a widow, in 1836, she was still trying to recover jewels and other property that had been seized in Sydney to repay her husband's debts.

Return to England

Baxter left Tasmania late in 1831. The following year he was imprisoned for debt for 12 months in

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...

prison. Baxter died at

Onchan Onchan (; glv, Kione Droghad) is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Administratively a district, it has the second largest population of settlements on the island, after Douglas, with wh ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

in 1834.

References

External links

Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

- includes correspondence and letters written by Baxter to the

Colonial Secretary of New South Wales Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Alexander 1798 births 1834 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Attorneys General of the Colony of New South Wales 19th-century Australian politicians