Sir John Steele Henry (born 3 July 1932) is a New Zealand jurist and former

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

judge, and member of the well-known

Henry family The Henry family migrated to New Zealand from Scotland in the 1870s. In New Zealand they played a major role in forestry, industry, law and philanthropy. They had originally worked as foresters and timbermillers in their homeland and, buttressed by ...

. Henry was born in 1932 in Auckland, the son of former High Court judge, the Hon. Sir

Trevor Henry Sir Trevor Ernest Henry (9 May 1902 – 20 June 2007) was a New Zealand jurist and member of the well known Henry family. Biography Henry was born in Thames in 1902, and was the son of John and Edith Henry. He was the eldest of the three sons ...

. He was educated at King's College, Auckland, before attending Law School at the University of Auckland. He graduated with an LLB in 1954 and was admitted to the New Zealand bar in 1955. He worked as a barrister and solicitor at the Henry family law firm, Wilson Henry (now Hesketh Henry) that was established by his father, Sir Trevor, and gained a reputation as a robust litigator, building a substantial commercial litigation team at the firm. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1980. In 1984, he was appointed to the bench of the High Court of New Zealand, later being a Commercial List Judge and then Executive Judge prior to being appointed to the Criminal Appeal Division of the Court of Appeal in 1991 and Justice of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand in 1995. In 1996 he became a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and sat on its Judicial Committee. He was also a justice of the High Court of the Cook Islands. In the

2001 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2001 was announced on 16 June 2001 for the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), New Zealand (4 June), Australia (11 June), Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sai ...

, Henry was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a judge of the Court of Appeal. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In 1957, Henry married Jennefer Lynne Stevenson. They had one son and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, John 1932 births Living people University of Auckland alumni Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand judges on the courts of the Cook Islands Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council New Zealand King's Counsel John New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom