Charles James Dashwood, KC (17 July 1842 – 8 July 1919) was an Australian public servant and judge. He was the longest-serving

Government Resident of the Northern Territory The administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the governor-general of Australia to represent the Crown in right of the Northern Territory. They perform functions similar to those of a Governors of the Australian states, ...

, and showed a concern for the rights of Aborigines.

Early life and education

Dashwood was born on 17 July 1842 at Dashwood's Gully near

Kangarilla, South Australia Kangarilla is a small rural town and locality around from Adelaide city centre, in South Australia. The area, formerly inhabited by Kaurna people, was settled by Europeans in 1840, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia. Tod ...

. His parents were English-born Captain

George Frederick Dashwood Lieutenant George Frederick Dashwood RN (20 September 1806 – 15 March 1881), frequently referred to as "Captain Dashwood", was a naval officer, public servant and politician in South Australia. He was appointed an acting member of the Legislati ...

, a naval officer and public servant, and Sarah Rebecca née Loine. He was educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and later completed a year's study of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

at the

University of Ghent Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

in Belgium.

Political and legal career

After studying in Belgium, Dashwood returned to Australia and spent six years working as a farmer. He then entered the legal profession, spending some time working as a

clerk of courts A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court and administering oaths t ...

before being admitted to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1873. Initially, he worked in partnership with W. H. Bundey, and with E. W. Hawker as "Bundey, Dashwood & Hawker" from 1879 to 1883. He practised alone from 1884 until 1890, at which point he began working with C. G. Varley. While working as a solicitor, he also began his political career, representing Noarlunga in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1887 to 1892. On 24 February 1892, Dashwood was appointed judge and

. He was the first Australian-born individual to hold this position, and he also became the longest-serving, continuing in office for 13 years. As a judge, he became known for his concern about the legal treatment of

Australian Aborigines Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 years ...

and his defence of their rights. The ''

Northern Territory Times and Gazette ''The Northern Territory Times'' was a newspaper in Darwin established in 1873 and closed in 1932. The paper was called the '' Northern Territory Times and Gazette'' from 1873–1927 and then ''The'' ''Northern Territory Times'' from 1927–1932 ...

'' praised his approach on more than one occasion, writing of him in 1896 as 'the personification of kindness in his dealing with aborigines'. He spoke out against violence committed by Europeans against Aborigines, warned against securing convictions solely on the basis of confessions, and was sometimes lenient in his sentencing of Aborigines. In 1899, Dashwood proposed a bill to improve employment law for Aborigines, but this bill was rejected by the South Australian government. After resigning from being Government Resident in January 1905, Dashwood continued to practise law, initially as the Crown Solicitor of South Australia before being appointed a

King'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 ...

in 1906. He continued in the legal profession until he retired in August 1916.

Personal life

Dashwood was married twice. His first marriage was to Kate Allen, with whom he had one son outside of marriage. He later married Martha Margarethe Johanna Klevesahl, a fine mezzo-soprano, on 5 February 1916. They had no children. Sisters of Klevesahl married

Charles Rasp Charles Rasp, born Hieronymous Salvator Lopez von Pereira, (7 October 1846 – 22 May 1907) is known as the first person to identify the economic potential of the ore deposits at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. He was born at Stuttgart ...

and Angas Johnson. He died from heart failure on 8 July 1919. Dashwood Place in Darwin is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dashwood, Charles Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Government Resident of the Northern Territory 19th-century Australian judges 20th-century Australian judges 1842 births 1919 deaths Colony of South Australia people Australian King's Counsel