William Alfred Wearing (12 November 1816 – 24 February 1875) was a prominent jurist in the Colony 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 ...

, who lost his life in the wreck of '' S.S. Gothenburg''. Wearing was born in London, a son of businessman Christopher Hammond Wearing (ca.1785 – 29 February 1860) and his wife Elizabeth Augusta, née Soulsby. He was educated at Trinity College, or St John's College,'Wearing, William Alfred (1816–1875)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wearing-william-alfred-4818/text8035, accessed 2 March 2013. Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A. He studied law, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1847. He shortly afterwards left for South Australia, following his parents, who had emigrated in 1839. He immediately began practising and it was not long before he was taken into partnership with the Charles Fenn, one of the largest practices in Adelaide. The partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Wearing was appointed Crown Solicitor, but was able to continue in private practice. In the earlier days of the colony he occasionally took part in colonial politics; working for the election of Mr. (later Judge) Gwynne, and also in securing the return of Dr. Wark. In 1866 he served on the secret court of inquiry which forced the resignation of Police Commissioner Peter Warburton. He took an active part in the 1867 sacking of Mr. Justice

Benjamin Boothby Benjamin Boothby (5 February 1803 – 21 June 1868) was a South Australian colonial judge, who was removed from office for misbehaviour, one of four Australian supreme court judges removed in the 19th century. 01312 Macquarie Law Journal 21. B ...

and was appointed by the Hon

Arthur Blyth Sir Arthur Blyth (19 March 1823 – 7 December 1891) was Premier of South Australia three times; 1864–65, 1871–72 and 1873–75. Early life The son of William Blyth and his wife, Sarah Wilkins, he was born at Birmingham, England on 21 ...

's or the Hon

Henry Ayers Sir Henry Ayers (now pron. "airs") (1 May 1821 – 11 June 1897) was the eighth Premier of South Australia, serving a record five times between 1863 and 1873. His lasting memorial is in the name Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, which was en ...

' Government as the third judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia in his place. Part of his duties involved holding the Palmerston Circuit Court in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, from where he was returning when the ''Gothenburg'' was wrecked. He was not one of the 22 persons who survived. Lionel James Pelham, judge's associate and clerk of arraigns and Joseph James Whitby, who accompanied Judge Wearing to the Northern Territory, in the capacity of acting Crown solicitor, were also lost in the ''Gothenburg''. Wearing's place on the Bench was taken by Justice

Randolph Isham Stow Randolph Isham Stow (17 December 1828 – 17 September 1878) was an English-born Australian Supreme Court of South Australia judge. Early life Stow was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England and baptised at Water Lane-Independent, Bishops S ...

Q.C., but he died three years later on 16 September 1878.

Family

On 4 October 1860 he married Jessie Clark (1842 – 8 January 1906) daughter of W. H. Clark They had three daughters and two sons, who, with their mother, left for London shortly after his death. *Jessie Blanche Wearing (1861 – ) married Andrew MacLachlan on 12 December 1885 *William Edward Wearing (1863 – ) *Mary Waring (1865 – ) *Mabel Wearing (1862 – ) married Frank Towers Cooper, part-owner of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' on 1 August 1893 *Charles Elton Wearing (1873 – 15 September 1898)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wearing, William Alfred 1816 births 1875 deaths Australian King's Counsel Lawyers from Adelaide Colony of South Australia judges Deaths due to shipwreck at sea Accidental deaths in Queensland Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia 19th-century Australian judges