Ross Ibbotson Dalton Mallam (1878 – 26 May 1954), invariably known as R. I. D. Mallam or Justice Mallam, was a judge of the

Northern Territory Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is aro ...

History

Mallam was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, and in 1902 emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, where his uncle George Bessant Mallam (1843–1910) was a successful medical practitioner who had in 1884 married Annie Isabel Kyffin Thomas (1864–1948), daughter of the influential newspaper proprietor

William Kyffin Thomas William Kyffin Thomas (4 November 1821 – 4 July 1878) was a newspaper proprietor in South Australia. William, the son of Robert Thomas, was born in Fleet Street, London and emigrated to South Australia with his father in 1836 on the . From tha ...

(1821–1878). He began practising law in Kadina in 1903, then a year later in Adelaide, where he also served as managing clerk for

Paris Nesbit Paris Nesbit, QC (born Edward Pariss Nesbit; 8 August 1852 – 31 March 1927), was an Australian lawyer. Early life and education Nesbit was born at Angaston in South Australia to schoolmaster Edward Planta Nesbit and Ann, ''née'' Pariss. ...

. On a motion by Nesbit, Mallam was admitted as a practitioner to the Supreme Court of South Australia. In 1910 he moved to Darwin where he had a successful practice in Mitchell Street, having taken over the offices of E. P. G. Little. He was appointed to the N.T. Supreme Court in 1928, replacing Judge Roberts. He retired in 1933; the vacant position on the Supreme Court was filled by

Thomas Alexander Wells Thomas Alexander Wells (13 September 1954) was a judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, Australia. He was known for having misdirected the jury in a high-profile case in 1934, which was later overturned in an appeal in the Hi ...

(c. 1888–1954). After a year in Adelaide moved to Melbourne, where he died in 1954.

Recognition

Mallam Street, Ludmilla is named for him. as is Mallam Crescent Alice Springs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallam, Ross 1878 births 1954 deaths History of the Northern Territory Judges of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory British emigrants to Australia