Frederick William Moorhead KC (1863 – 27 November 1902) was an Australian barrister, politician, and judge. He was born in Ireland and emigrated to

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 ...

in 1889. Moorhead was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1899 to 1901, and briefly served as the state's

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in the government of

Alf Morgans Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 1850 – 10 August 1933) was the fourth Premier of Western Australia, serving for just over a month, from 21 November to 23 December 1901. Born in Wales, Morgans trained as an engineer, and supervised mining ...

. He was appointed to the

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of A$750,00 ...

in April 1902, but died after only seven months in office.

Early life

Moorhead was born in King's County, Ireland, to Elizabeth (née Humphrys) and Michael J. Moorhead. He attended

St Stanislaus College St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaste ...

before going on to the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

, where he studied arts and laws. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1887.Frederick William Moorhead
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 June 2016. In his youth, Moorhead was a talented

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. A representative of

Dublin University A.F.C. Dublin University Association Football Club is an Irish association football club based at Trinity College Dublin. Founded in 1883, Dublin University A.F.C. is the oldest surviving association football club in the Republic of Ireland. Their seni ...

, he played a single match for the Irish national team, appearing against

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 ...

during the

1884–85 British Home Championship The 1884–85 British Home Championship was the second football tournament between the Home Nations and was, like the previous competition, won by a Scottish team which completely dominated proceedings. The English also performed well, beginning w ...

. Moorhead moved to Australia in 1889, and opened a law firm in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He was admitted to the Western Australian bar the following year.

Parliamentary career

Moorhead first attempted to enter parliament at an 1895 Legislative Council by-election for Central Province, but lost to William Alexander (by only seven votes). At the 1897 general election, he stood for the Legislative Assembly, but lost to

Henry Kenny Henry Frances Kenny (7 September 1913 – 25 September 1975) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 1973 to 1975. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1954 to 1975. He was the fathe ...

in the seat of North Murchison. However, Kenny died in August 1899, and Moorhead was successful at the resulting by-election. He was re-elected at the 1901 general election. In November 1901, Alf Morgans replaced

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying l ...

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, and appointed Moorhead as attorney-general in his new ministry. Under the state constitution at the time, newly appointed ministers were required to resign and recontest their seats in a

ministerial by-election A ministerial by-election is a by-election to fill a vacancy triggered by the appointment of the sitting member of parliament (MP) as a minister in the cabinet. The requirement for new ministers to stand for re-election was introduced in the Hous ...

. These were often uncontested, but the outgoing premier, Leake, organised opposing candidates in each seat. Moorhead and two other ministers (

Matthew Moss Matthew Lewis Moss KC (1 December 1863 – 28 February 1946) was a lawyer and politician who served in the Parliament of Western Australia on three separate occasions – in the Legislative Assembly from 1895 to 1897, and in the Legislative ...

and Frank Wilson) were defeated, resulting in the collapse of the Morgans government after just over a month.

Later life

After his electoral defeat, Moorhead returned to his law practice. He had been appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

(QC) in 1900, and was regarded as one of the most capable barristers in the state. In April 1902, Moorhead was appointed as a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Supreme Court, joining Edward Stone (the chief justice),

Alfred Hensman Alfred Peach Hensman (12 May 1834 – 5 October 1902) was a politician and Attorney-General of Western Australia. Hensman was the second son of John Hensman, solicitor, Northampton, England. He was educated at the University of London, and becam ...

(who died in October 1902), and

Stephen Henry Parker Sir Stephen Henry Parker (7 November 1846 – 13 December 1927) was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914. Biography Early life Stephen Henry Parker was the second son of Stephen Stanley Park ...

on the bench. Prior to his appointment, the court had had only three justices, but an additional justice was deemed necessary to alleviate their workload. However, in November 1902, Moorhead suffered a mental and physical breakdown. He had suffered from

locomotor ataxia Locomotor ataxia is the inability to precisely control one's own bodily movements. __TOC__ Disease People afflicted with this disease may walk in a jerky, non-fluid manner. They will not know where their arms and legs are without looking (i.e. a f ...

since an accident in 1897, but his breakdown brought on what was described as a " general paralysis", which he never recovered from."DEATH OF MR. JUSTICE MOORHEAD."
''The West Australian'', 27 November 1902. Moorhead died at his home in West Perth in late November. His funeral was held two days later at

St Mary's Cathedral, Perth St Mary's Cathedral, Perth, officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, and cathedra, seat of its Archbishop, currently Timothy Costelloe. ...

, and he was afterward buried in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

."FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR. JUSTICE MOORHEAD".
''The West Australian'', 29 November 1902. Moorhead had married Amy Campbell (née Monger) in 1891, with whom he had one daughter, but he was widowed in 1900. His wife was a daughter of

John Henry Monger John Henry Monger Jr (25 January 1831 – 23 December 1892) was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1870 to 1875, and again from 1890 to 1892. Monger was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1831; his father, John Henry ...

and a sister of Frederick Charles Monger, both of whom were members of parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorhead, Frederick 1863 births 1902 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Attorneys-General of Western Australia Australian barristers Australian King's Counsel Irish barristers Irish emigrants to Australia Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at University College School People from County Offaly Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Public servants of Western Australia Irish association footballers (before 1923) 19th-century Australian politicians Dublin University A.F.C. players Sportspeople from County Offaly Association footballers not categorized by position Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery