Sir William Portus Cullen (28 May 1855 – 6 April 1935) was an Australian barrister, the 7th

Chief Justice of New South Wales The Chief Justice of New South Wales is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of New South Wales. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Court ...

Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales The Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales is a government position in the State of New South Wales, Australia, acting as a deputy to the Governor of New South Wales. The office was first created in October 1786, before the arrival of the Firs ...

, 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 Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Early life and education

Cullen was born at Mount Johnston, near

Jamberoo, New South Wales Jamberoo is a village on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. It is approximately 11.3 km inland from Kiama. At the , Jamberoo had a population of 1,667. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal w ...

, the seventh son of John and Rebecca (née Clinton) Cullen. A brother,

Joseph Cullen Joseph Francis Cullen (1 February 1849 – 31 March 1917), Australian journalist and politician, was a Member of Parliament in New South Wales and Western Australia. Born in Jamberoo, New South Wales around 1849, Joseph Cullen was the son of f ...

, was a Member of Parliament for both New South Wales and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. William was educated at country state schools, including Kiama, and the University of Sydney, where he won a scholarship. William Cullen graduated

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with first class honours in classics in 1880,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1882,

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1885 and

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1887. During his university career he won the University, Lithgow, Barker, and Renwick scholarships, and the John Smith prize.

Legal career

Cullen was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1883 and his progress at first was slow. But, he eventually took high rank at the equity bar, and argued with much success before the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

and the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

(an institution whose creation he had vigorously supported). He became a KC in 1905. He regularly appeared in the High Court, and was considered one of the leading barristers appearing in the High Court, including appearing in ''

R v Governor of South Australia; Ex parte Vardon ''Blundell v Vardon'', was the first of three decisions of the High Court of Australia concerning the 1906 election for senators for South Australia. Sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, Barton J held that the election of Anti-Socialis ...

'', ''Union Label case'', and the ''Steel Rails case''.

Political career

Cullen entered politics in 1891 when he was elected a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for Camden. He was defeated at the 1894 election, and in 1895 was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

. Though not a strong party man, or even a politician by temperament, he was a useful member of the house who never spoke unless he could contribute something constructive to the debate. Cullen was a Federationist.

University of Sydney

His chief interest from his undergraduate days was the

; he was elected a member of the university senate in 1896, vice-chancellor in 1908, and chancellor in 1914. During his early days in the Legislative Council he introduced a bill embodying important reforms in the conduct of the university, although some of these were not brought into effect until many years after. He was elected term after term as chancellor, and when he resigned on account of his health and his advanced age in December 1934, he had been in office for a longer period than any previous chancellor, during a time of great expansion.

Judicial career

In January 1910 he was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in succession to Sir Frederick Darley, and in March was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Cullen found much business awaiting him at the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, but his great capacity for work soon cleared up the arrears. He was a very sound equity and constitutional lawyer who as chief justice worthily upheld the traditions of his court. Cullen was courteous and considerate to juniors appearing before him, and could hold his own with the most experienced barristers. He had great conscientiousness, excellent knowledge of the law and sound judgment, and consequently his judgments were seldom upset.Fuller B.C. "Obituary Sir William Cullen". (1935) 9 Australian Law Journal 24.

Late life

Cullen retired as Chief Justice in January 1925 but retained the position of Lieutenant-Governor until September 1930. He administered the State of NSW on several occasions during the absence of governors from the State or between appointments. He died at

Leura Leura (postcode: 2780) is a suburb in the City of Blue Mountains local government area that is located west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the series of small towns stretched along the Main W ...

on 6 April 1935. He married in 1891 Lily, eldest daughter of the Hon. R. H. D. White, who died in 1931. He was survived by two sons and a daughter. He was knighted in 1911 and created

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

in 1912. Cullen was interested in literature, in the Australian flora (''

Eucalyptus cullenii ''Eucalyptus cullenii'', commonly known as Cullen's ironbark, is a species of small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to Queensland. It has thick, rough, deeply furrowed "ironbark", lance-shaped adult leaves, green to yellow flower buds in gro ...

'' was named for him), and in social and philanthropic movements.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, William Portus 1855 births 1935 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Chief Justices of New South Wales Lieutenant-Governors of New South Wales Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian federationists Vice-Chancellors of the University of Sydney Chancellors of the University of Sydney