Charles Stuart Mein (14 June 1841 – 30 June 1890) was a politician and judge of the

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

. Mein was born in

Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River, New South Wales, Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New S ...

, and attended William Timothy Cape's school in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

until 1857, after which he enrolled in the newly opened Sydney Grammar School. He graduated from the school as captain in 1859 and then became a colleague of Samuel Griffith from 1860 to 1862 at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, where he was a scholar and earned his M.A. Mein later served as private secretary to the

Attorney-General of New South Wales The attorney general of New South Wales, in formal contexts also attorney-general or attorney general for New South Wales See, e.g. Attorney General for New South Wales v Burns & Ors', ''Leahy v Attorney-General for New South Wales'' and ''Makin ...

but relocated to Queensland in 1867, where he became a solicitor of the Supreme Court three years later. On 19 May 1876, Mein took his seat in the

Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

, and was appointed Postmaster-General and representative in the Council of the John Douglas Ministry on 8 July 1876. He retired with his colleagues in January 1879. In June 1884, Mein assumed office in the First Griffith Ministry, resuming his former position as Postmaster-General, which he exchanged in the following January for the newly created role of Secretary for Public Instruction. In April 1885, Mr. Mein resigned from Parliament and the Ministry and was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court following the death of Mr. Justice Pring. In October 1886 he was elected president at the eighth annual meeting of Brisbane's Johnsonian Club. Mr. Justice Mein died on 30 June 1890 in Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales from kidney disease. His body was brought back to Brisbane for burial at

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

.Mein Charles Stewart
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 21 February 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mein, Charles 1841 births 1890 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Australian solicitors Burials at Toowong Cemetery Colony of Queensland judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian judges