The Judge Advocate of New South Wales, also referred to as the Deputy Judge Advocate was a ranking

judicial officer The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

in the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of ...

until the abolition of the role in 1823. Before the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

sailed from England to colonise New South Wales, Marine Captain

David Collins David Collins may refer to: Persons * David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer * David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967) * David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?) * David Collins (Australian footballer) ...

was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate of the colony, and Judge Advocate of the marines. The Judge Advocate held office in several courts. #He was one of a bench of two

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

in the

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

. #He was president of the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction. #He was one of a bench of three judges in the

Court of Civil Jurisdiction The Court of Civil Jurisdiction was a court established in the late 18th century, in the colony of New South Wales which subsequently became a state of Australia. The court had jurisdiction to deal with all civil disputes in the then fledgling colo ...

until its abolition in 1814. #In the

Court of Appeal of New South Wales A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

, he was advisor to the colony's Governor, who was the sole appeal judge. From 1814, #He was

assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property) Tax assessment, or assessment, is t ...

of the

High Court of Appeal of New South Wales High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

. #He was one of a bench of three magistrates in the

Governors Court The Governors Court was a court established in the early 19th century in the colony of New South Wales. The colony was subsequently to become a state of Australia in 1901. The court had jurisdiction to deal with civil disputes where the amount ...

. David Collins held office from 1788 until 1796. He was temporarily replaced by

Richard Bowyer Atkins Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

until

Richard Dore Richard Dore (1749–1800) was an attorney, deputy judge advocate and secretary to the governor of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia in the late 18th century. He was the second person to hold office as deputy judge advocate, a position ...

arrived in 1798. Dore was the first judge-advocate with legal qualifications. He died in 1800. Atkins was re-appointed and held office until late 1809, although he was temporarily deposed during the Rum Rebellion of 1808. At the end of 1809,

Ellis Bent Ellis Bent (1783 – 10 November 1815) was the Deputy Judge Advocate between 1810 and 1815 of the Australian colony of New South Wales, which was eventually to become an Australian state. The Deputy Judge Advocate of New South Wales was the sen ...

, a barrister, arrived from England to take up the appointment as judge-advocate. He held the office until his death on 10 November 1815.

List of Judge Advocates

Notes

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, title=Judge Advocate of New South Wales, url=https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/ORGANISATIONS1001160 , website=State Records, publisher=Government of New South Wales , access-date=2021-04-12 New South Wales law Australian penal colony administrators