The Right Honourable Sir John Latham GCMG KC |
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Chief Justice Sir John Latham in 1945 | |
5th Chief Justice of Australia | |
In office 11 October 1935 – 7 April 1952 |
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Nominated by | Joseph Lyons |
Appointed by | Sir Isaac Isaacs |
Preceded by | Sir Frank Gavan Duffy |
Succeeded by | Sir Owen Dixon |
Personal details | |
Born | 26 August 1877 Ascot Vale, Victoria |
Died | 25 July 1964 Richmond |
(aged 86)
Nationality | Australian |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Sir John Greig Latham GCMG QC (26 August 1877 – 25 July 1964) was an Australian judge and politician who served as fifth Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia for seventeen years, from 1935 to 1952.
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Latham was born in Ascot Vale, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. His father was a prominent citizen, whose achievements as Secretary for the Society for the Protection of Animals were deeply respected. John Latham won a scholarship and became a successful student at Scotch College and the University of Melbourne, studying logic, philosophy and law. At one point, he was the recipient of the Supreme Court Judges' Prize. In November 1902, Latham became the first secretary of the Boobook Society (named for the Southern Boobook owl), a group of Melbourne academics and professionals which still meets.
During World War I, he was an Intelligence officer in the Royal Australian Navy, holding the rank of lieutenant commander. He was the head of Naval Intelligence from 1917, and was part of the Australian delegation to the Imperial Conference and then the Versailles Peace Conference, for which he was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1920 New Year Honours.[1] He grew to dislike William Morris Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister.
Latham had a distinguished legal career. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1904, and was made a King's Counsel in 1922. In 1920, Latham appeared before the High Court representing the State of Victoria in the famous Engineers' case, alongside such people as Dr H.V. Evatt and Robert Menzies.
In 1922, Latham was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as an independent, running on a campaign of 'Get Rid of Hughes'. Although his philosophy was close to Hughes' Nationalist Party, Latham's experience of Hughes in Europe ensured that he would not serve under him in a Parliament. He won the Victorian seat of Kooyong. On Hughes' removal, he subsequently joined the Nationalist Party and from 1925 to 1929, he served as the Commonwealth Attorney-General in the Nationalist government under Stanley Bruce and Earle Page. He wrote several books, including Australia and the British Empire in which he argued for Australia's place in the British Empire. He opposed the ratification of the Statute of Westminster (1931) and worked very hard to prevent it.[2] After Bruce lost his Parliamentary seat in 1929, Latham served as leader of the Nationalist Party. After Joseph Lyons led defectors from the Labor Party across the floor, Latham resigned as Opposition Leader in favour of Lyons. In 1931 he was appointed Attorney-General again, this time in the United Australia Party government of Lyons. At the same time, he was also the Minister for External Affairs and (unofficially) the Deputy Prime Minister. Latham held these positions until 1934, when he retired from the Commonwealth Parliament.
Latham was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 11 October 1935. From 1940 to 1941, he took leave from the Court and travelled to Tokyo to serve as Australia's first Minister to Japan. He retired from the High Court in April 1952.
Latham was one of only eight justices of the High Court to have served in the Parliament of Australia prior to his appointment to the Court; the others were Edmund Barton, Richard O'Connor, Isaac Isaacs, H. B. Higgins, Edward McTiernan, Garfield Barwick, and Lionel Murphy.
He died in 1962 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. Latham was a prominent Rationalist, after abandoning his parent's Methodism at university. He was also a prominent campaigner for Australian literature, being part of the editorial board of The Trident, a small liberal journal, which was edited by Walter Murdoch. The board also included poet Bernard O'Dowd. Latham had three children, two of whom predeceased him. His wife, Ella, also predeceased him.
The Canberra suburb of Latham was named after him in 1971.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Littleton Groom |
Attorney-General 1925–1929 |
Succeeded by Frank Brennan |
New title | Minister for Industry 1928–1929 |
Succeeded by James Scullin |
Preceded by Littleton Groom |
Attorney-General 1932–1934 |
Succeeded by Robert Menzies |
Preceded by James Scullin |
Minister for External Affairs 1932–1934 |
Succeeded by George Pearce |
Preceded by James Scullin |
Minister for Industry 1932–1934 |
Succeeded by Robert Menzies |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Stanley Bruce |
Leader of the Nationalist Party 1929–1931 |
Party disbanded |
Parliament of Australia | ||
Preceded by Robert Best |
Member for Kooyong 1922–1934 |
Succeeded by Robert Menzies |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by Sir Frank Gavan Duffy |
Chief Justice of Australia 1935–1952 |
Succeeded by Sir Owen Dixon |
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