Alexander "Alex" Cuthbert Castles (7 March 1933 – December 2003) was an Australian historian and author who specialized in Australian legal history. He is the author of a number of published books in Australia as well as the author of numerous articles written for various journals. Castles was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. He attended the Scotch College, the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He was a tutor at the University of Melbourne and later served as an assistant lecturer at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. In 1958 he took up a post in the Faculty of Law at the University of Adelaide and in 1967 was appointed a professor. He retired in 1994 and was made an honorary visiting research fellow of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, later accepted appointment as a professorial fellow at the Flinders University School of Law.

Works

His best known work is ''An Australian Legal History'' which was published in 1982. He also published a source book in 1979. Both books are the first systematic attempt to write the legal history of Australia from a local perspective rather than a British perspective. Other books published by Alex Castles include ''Annotated Biography of Australian Law'', ''Law On North Terrace'' and ''Law Makers and Wayward Whigs''. He works are regularly cited by Australian Courts. Justice Michael Kirby notes that one of the earliest references is a decision of the High Court of Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR 1, a significant case in the history of Australia decided by the Court in 1992. He was also a major contributors to biographies of many Australians who practiced in the law. These biographies are now available online through the Australian biography project. He also wrote a book on the legendary 1935 Sydney murders known as the

Shark Arm case The Shark Arm case refers to a series of incidents that began in Sydney, Australia, on 25 April 1935 when a human arm was regurgitated by a captive 3.5-metre tiger shark, subsequently leading to a murder investigation and trial. Discovery of ...

. The book was called ''The Shark Arm Murders'', published by Wakefield Press, Australia in 1995, which became a best-seller.

Other work

Castles was one of the founding members of the

Australian Law Reform Commission The Australian Law Reform Commission (often abbreviated to ALRC) is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia. The reviews, also called inquiries or references, are referred to the ALRC by ...

and was a member of the Dix Committee, which conducted a review of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

. He served on the Law Reform commission between 1975 and 1981.

Later years and Death

Alex Castles died suddenly in December 2003 before he could publish his latest book on

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

called ''Ned Kelly's Last Days''. It was published posthumously by his daughter, Jennifer Castles.Alex C. Castles. Ned Kelly's Last Days. Published by Allen & Unwin, Australia. 2005. (). He was survived by his wife, three daughters and son. A second posthumous book was published in 2003, ''Lawless Harvests or God Save the Judges: Van Diemen's Land 1803-55, a Legal History'' (with Stefan Petrow and Kate Ramsay).

Footnotes

Sources

Issue 81 - https://web.archive.org/web/20060903212924/http://bar.austlii.edu.au/au/other/alrc/publications/reform/reform84/16.html * Michael Kirby, High Court of Australia speech - https://web.archive.org/web/20070829071328/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_mar04.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Castles, Alex 1933 births 2003 deaths Australian jurists