- John Latham (jurist)
Infobox Judge
honorific-prefix=The Right Honourable
name =Sir John Latham
honorific-suffix=
KBE CMG
nationality = Australian
caption = Chief Justice Sir John Latham in 1945
order = 5th
office = Chief Justice of Australia
term_start =11 October 1935
term_end =7 April 1952
appointer =Joseph Lyons
predecessor = Sir Frank Gavan Duffy
successor = Sir Owen Dixon
birth_date = birth date|1877|8|26|df=y
birth_place = Ascot Vale, Victoria
death_date = death date and age|1964|7|25|1877|8|26|df=y
death_place = Richmond
religion =|Sir John Greig Latham KBE CMG PC (
26 August 1877 –25 July 1964 ) was anAustralia njudge and politician who served as fifthChief Justice of theHigh Court of Australia for seventeen years, from 1935 to 1952.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 theUniversity 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 theBoobook Society (named for theSouthern Boobook owl ), a group ofMelbourne academics and professionals which still meets.During
World War I , he was an Intelligence officer in theRoyal Australian Navy , holding the rank oflieutenant commander . He was the head of Naval Intelligence from 1917, and was part of the Australian delegation to the Imperial Conference and then theVersailles Peace Conference , for which he was appointedCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1920 New Year Honours. [LondonGazette |issue=31712 |date=30 December 1919 |startpage=4 |supp=yes] He grew to dislikeWilliam Morris Hughes , the Australian Prime Minister.Latham had a distinguished legal career. He was admitted to the
Victorian Bar in 1904, and was made aKing'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 andRobert 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 CommonwealthAttorney-General in the Nationalist government underStanley Bruce andEarle Page . After Bruce lost his Parliamentary seat in 1929, Latham served as leader of the Nationalist Party. AfterJoseph 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 theUnited 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 on11 October 1935 . From 1940 to 1941, he took leave from the Court and travelled toTokyo to serve as Australia's first Minister to Japan. He retired from the High Court in April 1952.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 poetBernard O'Dowd . Latham had three children, two of whom predeceased him. His wife, Ella, also predeceased him.Footnotes
References
* "Sir John Latham and Other Papers", by
Zelman Cowan
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100002b.htm Latham, Sir John Greig (1877 - 1964)] ,Australian Dictionary of Biography Persondata
NAME = Faulkner, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION =Australia n politician, diplomat and chief justice
DATE OF BIRTH =26 August 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH =Ascot Vale, Victoria
DATE OF DEATH =25 July 1964
PLACE OF DEATH =Richmond, Victoria
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