Sir Charles Hart Bright (25 November 191216 May 1983) was a Justice of the
Supreme Court of South Australia
The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...
and chancellor of
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
.
Early life
Bright was born on 25 November 1912 in
Norwood, a suburb of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, the second child of Baptist minister Charles Bright and his second wife Annie Florence (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Hollidge). He attended Scotch College and studied law at the University of Adelaide, following which he was admitted to the South Australian Bar on 15 December 1934.
Career
Bright started out working for Shierlaw, Frisby Smith & Romilly Harry, before becoming partners with O. C. Isaachsen in 1940. Bright served as full-time captain of the Australian Army Legal Department from 4 January 1943 till 1 November 1944, when he became a reserve officer. In 1945, Bright and Isaachsen had a new partner, Zelling, although their law firm was dissolved in 1954. Bright, who preferred commercial and tax-related cases, then partnered with D. B. McLeod. In 1961, he was appointed as president of the Law Society of South Australia, a post he held till 1963. From 1962 to 1963, he was a councillor at the Law Council of Australia. In October 1963, Bright became a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Bright was also active in the wider community. For instance, he sat on the Physiotherapists Board of South Australia for some ten years and was president of the Minda Home in Brighton for six years, which caters to individuals with mental disabilities.
He was also vice-president of the Musica Viva Society of Australia and the Australian Red Cross Society in South Australia. Bright became the first pro-chancellor of the South Australia-based
Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
, and chaired its finance and buildings committee. In 1971, he became the university's chancellor, taking over Sir
Mark Mitchell. Bright retired from the bench in December 1978 and was knighted in 1980. In view of his declining health, he stepped down as chancellor in 1983.
Personal life and death
Bright was raised as a Protestant. On 31 August 1940, Bright married doctor Elizabeth Holden (née Flaxman), whose great-grandfather was
Charles Flaxman
Charles Flaxman (25 December 1806 – November 1869) was employed by George Angas as his chief clerk. Flaxman received a loan from Angas to invest in land in South Australia. He travelled to Australia aboard the ''Prince George'' in 1838. He too ...
. They had a daughter and two sons.
After resigning as chancellor of Flinders University, Bright was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Letters on 13 May 1983. He died on 16 May 1983 in his home in North Adelaide. The cause of death was cancer.
Bright's book on his wife's great-grandfather, whom he had researched on while studying for a postgraduate degree in history at Flinders University, was posthumously released in the same year. The Sir Charles Bright Scholarship Trust was set up in 1985 for disabled South Australians looking to pursue tertiary education.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Charles Hart
1912 births
1983 deaths
Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia
People from Adelaide
Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Chancellors of Flinders University
Deaths from cancer in South Australia