Sir William à Beckett (28 July 1806 – 27 June 1869) was a British barrister and the first Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

Background

Born in London, he was the eldest son of William à Beckett, also a solicitor. His younger brothers were Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, one of the original staff of '' Punch'' and the author of 'Comic History of England', and

Thomas Turner à Beckett Thomas Turner à Beckett (13 September 1808 – 1 July 1892) was a lawyer and politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Early life à Beckett was born in London, England, son of William à Becket ...

(13 September 1808 – 1 July 1892). He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, publishing a youthful volume of verse, ''The Siege of Dumbarton Castle'', in 1824. In 1829 he was called to the bar by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

Legal career

In 1837, à Beckett migrated to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and edited the 'Literary News', a short-lived newspaper. In 1838 à Beckett, along with William Foster and Richard Windeyer, defended the 11 colonists charged with murder in relation to the

Myall Creek massacre The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people in the Colony of New South Wales by eight colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek in the north of the colony. Seven perpetrators were convicted of murder ...

. He was appointed acting Solicitor General for the colony in March 1841, and Solicitor General in March 1843. In July 1844 he became an acting judge, and was made a full

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the Supreme Court of NSW. In January 1846, he was appointed to the

Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip The Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip was an historical division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, exercising the jurisdiction of that court within the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. It consisted ...

as the resident judge. In 1851 he was created a

knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

. When in January 1852 the separate colony of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

was proclaimed he became its first Chief Justice. He returned to Melbourne in December 1854 in time to participate in the

Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia, during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, wh ...

trials. Although often accused of the inflammatory comments at the trial of the arsonists of the Eureka Hotel, it was the actually the Acting Chief Justice

Redmond Barry Sir Redmond Barry (7 June 181323 November 1880), was an Irish-born judge in the Australian colony of Victoria. A major figure in the early civic life of Melbourne, Barry was instrumental in founding several key institutions in the city, in ...

who sparked the Eureka uprising. À Beckett retired as Chief Justice in 1857 due to poor health, and in 1863 he returned to England.

Author

Politically conservative, à Beckett was strongly opposed to the social disruption caused by the

Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

and under the ''pseudonym'' 'Colonus' espoused his views in an influential pamphlet somewhat cumbersomely entitled ''Does the Discovery of Gold in Victoria Viewed in Relation to its Moral and Social Effects as Hitherto Developed Deserve to be Considered a National Blessing or a National Curse?'' late in 1852. He presided over a number of important trials including the robbers of gold from the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

''Nelson'' in Hobson's Bay in 1852, but growing disillusion with the state of society in Victoria saw him leave for England with his family in February 1853. He wrote a number of books, including several volumes of his poetry, and a manual for magistrates of the Court of Petty Sessions, the predecessor of the Magistrates Court of Victoria.

Family

À Beckett married firstly Emily Hayley in 1832. She died on 1 June 1841 and he married secondly Matilda Hayley, her sister, in 1849. He had 13 children with his two wives. À Beckett died in London on 27 June 1869 and was buried in

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. He was survived by four sons. One,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, (1833–1901) married Emma Mills (1838–1906), the daughter of John Mills, a freed convict from

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

who founded

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Their daughter

Emma Minnie Boyd Emma Minnie Boyd (23 November 1858—13 September 1936), born Emma Minnie à Beckett, was an Australian artist. Boyd exhibited publicly between 1874 and 1932. She showed with the Victorian Artists Society, the Centennial International Exhibiti ...

, whose pursuit was painting, married another of the same pursuit,

Arthur Merric Boyd Arthur Merric Boyd (19 March 1862 – 30 July 1940) was an Australian painter. He and his wife Emma Minnie Boyd, Emma Minnie (Given name#Name at birth, née à Beckett) established a lifestyle of being artists, which many generations followed t ...

, and there began extended generations of artists in Australian cultural life, collectively the

Boyd family The Boyd family is an Australian family whose members over several generations contributed to the arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, pottery, Ceramic art, ceramics, literature, architecture, poetry and music. The Boyd family is consi ...

. Sir William's nephew Thomas à Beckett, son of his brother Thomas, was also a puisne judge in Australia.

Legacy

A'Beckett Street, located in Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, is named for Sir William and his influential role as Chief Justice of Victoria.

Bibliography

* ''Out of Harness'' (1854) — travel, prose * ''The Earl's Choice and Other Poems'' (1863) — poetry * ''The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems'' (1999) — poetry

References

External links

*
Review of biographySupreme Court of Victoria Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeckett, William 1806 births 1869 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Chief justices of Victoria British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales Knights Bachelor Members of Lincoln's Inn People educated at Westminster School, London Colony of New South Wales judges Colony of Victoria judges Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales 19th-century Australian judges Solicitors general for New South Wales 19th-century Australian writers Settlers of Melbourne Eureka Rebellion People of the Eureka Rebellion À Beckett family