David Gaunson

Gaunson circa. 1880

David Gaunson (19 January 1846 – 2 January 1909) was an Australian politician and criminal solicitor who conducted the defence of the infamous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly in the pre-trial stages.

Early life

Gaunson was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the fourth son of Francis Gaunson and his wife Elizabeth. David Gaunson was educated in Sydney, and at Brighton, Victoria. Having served his articles to his brother-in-law, Hon. J. M. Grant, he was admitted an attorney of Victoria in 1869 and practised in Melbourne.^[1]

Political career

After fighting two unsuccessful contests in 1871, and in 1872 unsuccessfully opposing the Hon. J. G. Francis, the then premier, at Richmond, he was returned to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1875 for Ararat, which constituency he continued to represent until July 1881. Gaunson was a prominent member of the "Stonewall" party, which, under Hon. Graham Berry, after an unparalleled agitation in Parliament and in the country, ultimately annihilated the followers of Sir James McCulloch at the general election in 1877. Subsequently, however, he acted in opposition to Mr. Berry, and also opposed the Service Government formed in 1880. In the following year, on the formation of the O'Loghlen Ministry, Gaunson accepted a portfolio as President of the Board of Lands and Works and Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey. He was, however, defeated at Ararat by the Hon. William Wilson on presenting himself for re-election after his acceptance of office, and at once resigned his position in the Ministry which he only held from 9 July to 2 August.^[1] Gaunson was elected to the seat of Emerald Hill in October 1883.^[2] Gaunson was returned to the Assembly at the general election in March 1886; but on his contesting South Melbourne at the ensuing general election in March 1889 he was defeated by William Mountain.^[1] Gaunson represented Public Officers from June 1904^[3] to December 1906.^{[4] [5]} Gaunson also contested Assembly elections for Emerald Hill in 1892, Carlton in 1900 and East Melbourne in 1907, but was unsuccessful on each of these occasions.^[2]

Ned Kelly case

Gaunson claimed to have found a loophole in the prosecution case whereby Kelly was not guilty of murder as the police unit attacking him was out to kill him and thus Kelly fired in self-defence. This argument was not carried by the defence lawyer in the actual trial and Kelly went to hang.

Involvement with John Wren

At the dawn of the 20th century, Gaunson became involved with John Wren, a businessman who ran an illegal tote in the working class suburb of Collingwood, Melbourne. The police eventually caught up with Wren who went to Gaunson for help. What happened is not clear, but Gaunson managed to get the police off Wren's back. Gaunson advised Wren on the best ways to cover-up his illegal betting activities. His alleged role in the Wren machine is referred to in the Frank Hardy novel, Power Without Glory, in which the character "Garside" is clearly based on Gaunson.^[6]

Gaunson remained a controversial political and legal figure throughout his life. His contemporary, Alfred Deakin, described him as "endowed with a musical voice, good presence, fine flow of language, great quickness of mind, readiness of retort and a good deal of industry, ability and humour, ... only disqualified from marked successes by his utter instability, egregious egotism, want of consistency and violence of temper".^[6]

References