Douglas Menzies

Sir Douglas Ian Menzies KBE (7 September 1907 – 29 November 1974), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Biography

Menzies was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1907. He was educated at Hobart High School and Devonport High School in Tasmania, before returning to Victoria to study at the University of Melbourne. He graduated with a Master of Laws, having been awarded the Jessie Leggatt and E J B Num Scholarships, and having won the Supreme Court of Victoria's Prize in Law.

In 1930, Menzies was admitted to the Victorian Bar, where he practised as a barrister. From 1941 to 1945, he was Secretary to the Defence Committee and Chiefs of Staff, and from 1941 to 1950 he was a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. From 1956 to 1958, Menzies was the President of the Law Council of Australia, and in 1958, served as President of the Victorian Bar Council.

Menzies was appointed to the bench of the High Court on 12 June 1958, and later that year was made a Knight of the Order of the British Empire. In 1963, he was elevated to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and in 1968 was made the Chancellor of Monash University. He served on the bench of the High Court until his death on 29 November 1974. Menzies died suddenly at the New South Wales Bar's annual Bench and Bar Dinner. According to a story often told by retired High Court Justice Michael Kirby, Menzies died three places ahead of Kirby, in the servery line in the Bar's common room.

He was the cousin of Prime Minister of Australia Sir Robert Menzies.

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