Sir Dormer George (Bob) Andrews (8 April 1919 – 28 June 2004) was a judge in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Education and military service

Andrews was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He attended Taringa State primary school and

St Joseph's College, Nudgee St Joseph's Nudgee College (commonly referred to as Nudgee College or simply Nudgee) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in Boondall, a northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Th ...

before enrolling at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 1939. In 1940, he enlisted in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, first in No. 61 OTU in Britain and then in No. 127 Squadron in the

Western Desert In Egypt, the Western Desert is an area of the Sahara that lies west of the river Nile, up to the Libyan border, and south from the Mediterranean Sea to the border with Sudan. It is named in contrast to the Eastern Desert which extends east fro ...

. In October 1942, the

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

fighter he was flying was shot down and he sustained severe injuries that resulted in the loss of his left arm. He was held prisoner by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

s until he was liberated and repatriated in June 1943. He resumed his university study and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1944 and a Bachelor of Law in 1947.

Legal career

He did articles at the firm of Williams and Williams and was admitted as a barrister in 1947. This is when he started his practice at the Queensland bar for the next 11 years. He was appointed a judge on the

District Court of Queensland The District Court of Queensland (QDC) is the second tier in the court hierarchy of Queensland, Australia. The Court deals with serious criminal offences such as rape, armed robbery and fraud. Juries are used to decide if defendants are guilty ...

in April 1959 and as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in May 1971. In 1982, although he was only the ninth most senior justice in the court, he was the choice of the premier,

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

, for the post of Chief Justice. This choice was strongly opposed in cabinet by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, and Walter Campbell was appointed as a compromise candidate. In 1985, Campbell left the Supreme Court to take up an appointment as

state governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

and Andrews was appointed Chief Justice. He retired in 1989 when he reached the statutory retirement age of 70.

Honours

Andrews was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1987 and received the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Dormer 1919 births 2004 deaths Chief justices of Queensland Australian Knights Bachelor Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland 20th-century Australian judges People educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee Lawyers awarded knighthoods

Education and military service

Legal career

Honours

See also

References