Sir Herbert Richard Churton Wild (20 September 1912 – 22 May 1978) was the ninth

Chief Justice of New Zealand The chief justice of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kaiwhakawā Tumuaki o Aotearoa) is the head of the New Zealand judiciary, and presides over the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The chief justice of New Zealand is also the chief justice of Tokelau. Befo ...

Family

Wild was born in

Blenheim Blenheim ( ) is the English name of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria, Germany, which was the site of the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Almost all places and other things called Blenheim are named directly or indirectly in honour of the battle. Places ...

in 1912. His father,

Leonard Wild Leonard John Wild (28 October 1889 – 23 July 1970) was a New Zealand teacher, agricultural scientist, lecturer, principal, educationalist, and writer. Early life Born at Oraki near Riverton in Southland in 1889, he received his secondary e ...

, was at that time science teacher at

Marlborough High School Marlborough High School is a secondary school in Zimbabwe which is located in a Harare suburb called Marlborough. Marlborough is to the north of Harare City Centre and lies between the roads leading to Chinhoyi and Bindura from Harare. Marlborou ...

. He attended Feilding Agricultural High School. His sister Dora later married the jurist John White. His son,

John Wild John Wild may refer to: *Jack Wild (1952–2006), English actor * John Benton Wild (1806–1857), Australian politician * John Caspar Wild (1804–1846), American painter *John Daniel Wild (1902–1972), American philosopher *John J. Wild (1914–2 ...

, was a judge at the High Court and then the Court of Appeal.

Chief justice

He famously decided the case of ''

Fitzgerald v Muldoon ''Fitzgerald v Muldoon and Others'' is a 1976 New Zealand Supreme Court case concerning whether press statements by Robert Muldoon had breached section 1 of the Bill of Rights 1688. In its decision, the court ruled "That the pretended power o ...

''in 1976. Wild was diagnosed with a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and second ...

in 1977. He resigned as Chief Justice in early 1978 and died shortly after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Richard 1912 births 1978 deaths New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand judges Victoria University of Wellington alumni People from Blenheim, New Zealand Chief justices of New Zealand High Court of New Zealand judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council New Zealand Army officers New Zealand King's Counsel Solicitors-General of New Zealand People educated at Feilding High School New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom