Sir Edward Eyre Williams (1813 – 30 April 1880) was an English-Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He was a nominated member of the
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...
and
Solicitor-General of Victoria
The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as o ...
.
Early life
Williams was born in 1813 in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, to Burton Williams, a sugar plantation owner from
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
, and his wife Jane; he was the couple's sixth son.
[
] In November 1833, after completing his education, Williams was called to the bar of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
where he practised as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
.
Williams was born to a slaveholding family.
His father Burton Williams owned some 450 slaves in Trinidad on three family-owned sugar plantations in the 1820s. Edward was later a trustee to his insane brother Richard Burton Williams who owned 64 slaves. Following the abolition of slavery in 1833 Williams submitted a claim on his brothers behalf and obtained compensation of £3,146 for him in 1836.
Williams married Jessie Gibbon, a minister's daughter, on 13 March 1841 in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
Port Phillip District/Colony of Victoria
Williams decided to move to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, arriving with his wife in the
Port Phillip District
The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria.
In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
on 13 February 1842, where he initially planned to become a
squatter
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
.
However, he soon abandoned this idea and joined the Melbourne bar on 30 March 1842, making his first court appearance the following month where he performed well.
In the 1840s, although there were a few other members, the Melbourne bar essentially consisted of
Redmond Barry
Sir Redmond Barry (7 June 181323 November 1880), was an Irish-born judge in the Australian colony of Victoria. A major figure in the early civic life of Melbourne, Barry was instrumental in founding several key institutions in the city, in ...
and
William Stawell
Sir William Foster Stawell KCMG (27 June 181512 March 1889) was a British colonial statesman and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia. Stawell was the first Attorney-General of Victoria, serving from 1851 to 1856 as an ...
(both future judicial colleagues of Williams), along with Williams,
Robert Pohlman
Robert Williams Pohlman (March 1811 – 6 December 1877) was an English-born Australian lawyer and judge.
Pohlman was born in London, the son of son of John George Pohlman and Annie Hamilton, ''née'' Williams, his wife .
Little is know ...
and
Archibald Cunninghame.
[
] Barry, Stawell, Williams, Pohlman,
James Croke
James Croke (1789 – 10 March 1857) was Solicitor-General of Victoria (Australia) and a politician, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council.
Croke was born in County Cork, Ireland, the son of William Croke, a farmer. Croke was educated ...
and
Edward Brewster
Edward Jones Brewster (c.1812
Has 1812 birth year Has 1813 birth year. – 17 March 1898) was a lawyer and politician in colonial Australia, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1812, and educated fo ...
, all with either Irish or English educational and legal backgrounds, were something of "an informal Senior Common Room" in Melbourne in the 1840s, "dining and socialising together and generally supportive of their own brand of legal manners."
In May 1844 Williams was appointed to the Bourke District local council.
He contributed to efforts to establish the
Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. Th ...
from 1845, and in 1847 was a member of its first management committee.
In 1848, Williams represented
William Kerr, the proprietor of ''
The Argus'', in defence of a libel case brought by the
mayor of Melbourne
This is a list of mayors and lord mayor, lord mayors of the City of Melbourne, a Local government in Australia, local government area of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia.
Mayors (1842–1902)
Lord mayors (1902–1980)
The title o ...
Henry Moor
Henry Moor (1809 – 12 May 1877) was a British lawyer and politician who served as the second Mayor of Melbourne, Australia and as Member of Parliament for Brighton in England.
Early life
Moor was born in Greenwich, Kent, England. He was E ...
.
Kerr lost the case, and the damages he had to pay pushed him into insolvency, forcing him to sell ''The Argus''.
[
] Williams later represented
Edward Wilson (who had bought ''The Argus'' from Kerr) and
James Johnston against another libel suit brought by Moor.
Moor won this case too, but was awarded only token damages of one
farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
*Farthing (English c ...
.
[
] In both cases, Moor was represented by William Stawell.
Williams was appointed the commissioner of insolvent estates on 1 April 1851.
Later that year he intended to stand in the
first election for the
Legislative Council of Victoria
The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council s ...
, but when made Commissioner of the Court of Requests in late July 1851, he withdrew from the election.
He was also appointed chairman of the Court of Quarter Sessions in January 1852.
[
] Williams would become a member of the Legislative Council from 13 April 1852,
[
] when he succeeded Redmond Barry as
Solicitor-General of Victoria
The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as o ...
, after Barry was appointed a judge of the
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state.
The Supreme Court compri ...
.
Williams was Solicitor-General for barely three months, however, since he was himself made a judge of the Supreme Court on 21 July 1852, bringing the Court to its full complement of three judges.
As a judge, Williams was recognised for his diligent and efficient work at the circuit sittings of the Supreme Court in various parts of the colony.
Before the penetration of railways into the interior, many of the journeys to the circuit sittings were made on horseback.
Only limited amounts of time were available for each of the circuit destinations, and Williams would often hold sittings until the early hours of the morning in order to maintain the busy schedule of cases.
Williams took a two-year leave of absence in England, beginning in April 1859.
In 1872, the youngest of Williams' two daughters was killed in a
mountaineering
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
accident in Switzerland, when she fell from a cliff.
Crushed by this loss, and suffering from poor health, Williams was advised by his doctors to leave the bench, and he resigned from the Court in April 1874.
He left Australia with his family on 28 May of that year, returning to England.
Williams retired to the city of
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
; knighted on 28 May 1878; He died on 30 April 1880, survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons, the younger of whom was
Hartley Williams.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Edward
1813 births
1880 deaths
Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
Colony of Victoria judges
Solicitors-general of Victoria