Sir Thomas John Mellis Napier (24 October 1882 – 22 March 1976) was an Australian judge and academic administrator. He was a judge 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 ...

between 28 February 1924 and 28 February 1967, Chief Justice of

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 ...

from 25 February 1942 until 28 February 1967 and

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

Early life

He was born in

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

to Dr. Alexander Disney Leith Napier

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

and his wife Jessie Mellis. The family moved to

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 1887, where he attended the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

, and emigrated to Australia in 1896, Dr. Alexander Napier having taken the post of senior resident physician at the Adelaide Hospital. He studied law at the

graduating LLB in 1902. In 1903 he became Managing Clerk for "Kingston & McLachlan" and became a partner with McLachlan in 1906.

Legal career

In 1912 (together with Thomas Poole) he resuscitated the Law Society of South Australia, and served as its Vice President in 1923. On 30 April 1942 he was appointed

Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gen ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1943 and became a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in 1945. He was appointed a Knight of the

Venerable Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

in 1949. In 1964, Napier presided over the trial of Glen Sabre Valance, the last man hanged in South Australia. Valance was also the second-to-last man to be executed in Australia overall. He died on 22 March 1976 at

Kingswood, South Australia Kingswood is a suburb of the Australian city of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham. Kingswood is bounded to the west by Belair Road, to the north by Cross Road, to the south by Princes Road and to the east by Unley High School and the western b ...

and, following a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, was cremated.

Personal life

On 24 October 1908 Napier married Dorothy Bell Kay (died 1959) at Walkerville. They had three sons, one of whom was killed whilst serving with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in 1944.

Honours

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

(1943). * Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG; 1945). *

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

(1935). *

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to th ...

(1937). *

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

(1953). * Knight of the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ; 1949). * The

Napier Mountains The Napier Mountains are a group of close set peaks, the highest being Mount Elkins, at about 2,300 meters above sea level. This mountain range is located in Enderby Land, in the claimed Australian Antarctic Territory, East Antarctica. Location ...

were named by

Sir Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader durin ...

after Sir Mellis Napier. The Napier Mountains were first charted in January 1930 by the

British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, dr ...

under Mawson. * The South Australian

Electoral district of Napier Napier was an electorate in the South Australian Legislative Assembly in the outer northern suburbs of the Adelaide metropolitan area, including the suburbs of Blakeview, Davoren Park, Elizabeth Downs, Evanston South, Kudla, Munno Para, Smithfi ...

, from 1977 to 2018. *His bust by John Dowie stands near the gates of Government House in Adelaide.

References

1882 births 1976 deaths People from Dunbar Australian King's Counsel Chancellors of the University of Adelaide Chief Justices of South Australia Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Bachelor Knights of the Order of St John Lawyers from Adelaide Adelaide Law School alumni Lieutenant-Governors of South Australia Australian royal commissioners Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia 20th-century Australian judges {{Australia-law-bio-stub