Richard Birnie (1808–1888), was 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 ...

in colonial Australia. Birnie was the second son of Sir

Richard Birnie Sir Richard Birnie (c. 1760 – 1832) was a Scottish police magistrate in London, who came to prominence for his involvement with the Cato Street Conspiracy. Life He was a native of Banff, Aberdeenshire, born about 1760. After serving an ...

, Chief Metropolitan

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Bow Street Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge. The street was developed in 1633 by Francis Russell, 4 ...

, was born in London in 1808. He was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he graduated BA in 1830, and MA in 1837. He entered at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

on 9 January 1828 and was called to the bar on 7 May 1833. After practising in the Central Criminal Court Mr. Birnie was appointed by the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

to be Advocate-General of Western Australia, in which colony he arrived in January 1854. After holding this post for nearly six years he acted as judge for about a year. Arriving in 1859 in Melbourne, he was called to the Victorian bar on 13 October the same year. He was on several occasions employed as crown prosecutor in Victoria, but has been mainly known as a contributor of several hundred essays to the ''Australasian''. A selection of these were later published as, ''Essays Social, Moral and Political by a Barrister-at-law'', (Melbourne, 1879). His father, Sir Richard Birnie, was originally a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

r, but is chiefly known by his success in detecting and hunting down the Cato Street conspirators.

References

1808 births 1888 deaths Australian barristers Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British barristers {{Australia-law-bio-stub