Sir Langer Meade Loftus Owen (27 August 1862 – 25 January 1935) was an Australian lawyer and judge.

Life

Owen was a son of Sir William Owen, Senior Puisne Judge of the

New South Wales Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

. He was educated at

New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, Darlinghurst,

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, England, and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. He was appointed KC in February 1906. During the war years (1914–1918), he was an untiring worker for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

and was awarded a CBE in 1918 for his service. He was appointed to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Bench in 1922, and presided over many important divorce suits, notably the Field case, which lasted 89 days, with costs amounting to around £40,000; many millions in today's currency. He retired in June 1932, and then served as chairman of the

Australian Performing Rights Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

. He was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1934. Sir Langer Owen was noted for his unfailing courtesy, and was a stickler for public morality; he acted as president of the Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League.

Death

He died after a prolonged illness, aged 72, on 25 January 1935). His remains were cremated.

Family

Owen married Mary Louisa Dames Longworth on 5 September 1888. She and her friend Katherine Rose Egan were founder members of the NSW Red Cross Division. Mary died around 1916. Sir

William Francis Langer Owen Sir William Francis Langer Owen, KBE, QC (21 November 1899 – 31 March 1972) was an Australian judge who served as a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1961 until his death in 1972. Early life Owen was born in 1899 in Sydney ...

, KBE, QC (1899–1972) was a son. Owen married again on 25 August 1925, to Hilda Margaret Chapman, a daughter of Sir

Frederick Chapman Fred, Frederic or Frederick Chapman may refer to: * Frederic Chapman (1823–1895), English publisher with Chapman & Hall * Frederick Chapman (British Army officer) (1815–1893), British Army officer and colonial official * Frederick Chapman (pal ...

of Wellington, New Zealand and granddaughter of

Henry Samuel Chapman Henry Samuel Chapman (21 July 1803 – 27 December 1881) was an Australian and New Zealand judge, colonial secretary, attorney-general, journalist and politician. Early life Chapman was born at Kennington, London, the son of Henry Chapman, Engli ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Langer 1862 births 1935 deaths 19th-century Australian judges 20th-century Australian judges People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of New College, Oxford Australian Knights Bachelor