Charles Gilbert Heydon (25 August 1845 – 1 January 1932) was an Australian politician and judge.

Early life

He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to journeyman printer Jabez King Heydon and Sophia Hayes, and his godfather was Archbishop Polding. He attended St Mary's Cathedral school and then Reverend Thomas Aitken's school at

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

. In 1860 he started working for the

Commercial Banking Company of Sydney The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, also known as the CBC, or CBC Bank, was a bank based in Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1834, and in 1982 merged with the National Bank of Australasia to form National Australia Bank. Hi ...

, becoming a branch manager until he resigned to study for the bar.

Barrister and politician

Heydon was called to the bar in 1875, building a successful practice in commercial and common law. He was a candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

seat of Argyle at the 1877 election, but was defeated by 337 votes (23.4%). He was a candidate at the 1878 East Maitland by-election, but was again unsuccessful, defeated by 127 votes (19.6%). His practice as a barrister included prosecuting Peter Howe, a member of the Legislative Assembly, who was convicted with James Miller of

conspiracy to defraud Conspiracy to defraud is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales The standard definition of a conspiracy to defraud was provided by Lord Dilhorne in ''Scott v Metropolitan Police Commissioner' ...

the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company. He was appointed an acting judge of the Supreme Court in April 1892, and was the trial judge of a manager and auditor who were also charged with conspiracy to defraud the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company. His younger brother

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1882 until 1886 and was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

in 1889. Charles was appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

in the third Dibbs ministry in December 1893, joining Louis in the Legislative Council. The Dibbs ministry was defeated at the election in August 1894. The following year he prosecuted

Paddy Crick William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...

Dick Meagher Richard Denis Meagher (11 January 1866 – 17 September 1931) was an Australian solicitor and was the first Labor Lord Mayor of Sydney, serving from 1916 to 1917. Early life Meagher was born in Bathurst, New South Wales and educated at St S ...

and

George Dean George Dean (14 November 1867 – 7 May 1933) was a ferry boat master in Sydney, Australia, who was charged with attempting to poison his wife. A large part of the Sydney public came to believe that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her moth ...

who had been charged with conspiring to

pervert the course of justice Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statu ...

in relation to the pardon of Dean for the attempted murder of his wife. In August 1896 he volunteered to take on the task of consolidating the statute law of New South Wales, consisting of nearly 1400 acts, a task that had not been completed by a royal commission. The task would take Heydon 6 years to complete. In November 1896 he was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. He resigned from the Legislative Council on 22 March 1898, having been appointed as an acting judge of

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, but was re-appointed on 10 May once those duties had concluded.

Judicial career

On 1 March 1900 he was appointed a Judge of the District Court, for the northern district. In 1905 he was appointed President of the Court of Arbitration, which became the

Industrial Court Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

in 1908 and the Court of Industrial Arbitration in 1912. In 1918 the ''Judges Retirement Act'' 1918 (NSW), operated to retrospectively impose a retirement age of 70, forcing Heydon, Ernest Docker and Grantley Fitzhardinge to retire on 31 December 1918.

Personal life and death

On 8 September 1880 he married Miriam Josepha Makinson, with whom he had two sons. Miriam died in 1896 and in 1909 he married Sybil Russell, a 28 year old art student. Heydon died at

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...

in 1932.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heydon, Charles 1845 births 1932 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 19th-century Australian lawyers Colony of New South Wales people New South Wales lawyers Attorneys general of the Colony of New South Wales Australian King's Counsel 20th-century Australian judges Judges of the District Court of NSW