John Jefferson Bray, (16 September 1912 – 26 June 1995) was an Australian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

university administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

, Crown officer, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. From 1967 to 1978, he served as Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of South Australia The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...

Early life and parents

Bray was born 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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

on 16 September 1912, the elder son of Harry Midwinter Bray (1879–1965), an Adelaide

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

, and his wife, Gertrude Eleanore Stow (members of whose family were Congregationalist missionaries in South Australia). His father's family had a history of involvement in South Australian politics and current affairs: Bray's grandfather was the Honourable Sir

John Cox Bray Sir John Cox Bray (31 May 1842 – 13 June 1894) was a prominent South Australian politician and the first native-born Premier of South Australia (1881–1884). Early life and education John Cox Bray was born in East Adelaide, a son of Tom C ...

, a former

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

. On his mother's side, Bray claimed a collateral relationship to the third

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

president,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Education

Bray was educated at the state school at

Sevenhill The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius ...

in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

; at

St Peter's College, Adelaide St Peter's College (officially The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter, but commonly known as Saints) is an Private school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Primary school, primary and Secondary school ...

; and at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, where he earned a B.A. in 1932, an LL.B.(Hons.) in 1933 and an LL.D. in 1937. He was granted an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

in 1983.

Legal career

Bray trained as a lawyer and was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 1933, being appointed

Queen'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 1957. He was acting lecturer in jurisprudence at the

for the years 1941, 1943, 1945 (due to his being medically unfit to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

owing to extremely poor eyesight), and in 1951. He served as a lecturer in Legal History at the University of Adelaide from 1957 to 1958, and then as a lecturer in

Roman Law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

from 1959 until 1966. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia on 28 February 1967 and served until his retirement from the judiciary on 28 November 1978. Appointed by then

Attorney-General of South Australia The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

, he was appointed directly without having first served as a judge, which was an unusual occurrence. Bray was appointed Chancellor of the University of Adelaide in 1968, and also served as Deputy to the Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia from 1968 until retirement.

Other activities

Bray was an active member of the Libraries Board of South Australia between 1944 and 1989, the longest-serving Libraries Board member until that point. After he retired, the

State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research li ...

named its reference section as the Bray Reference Library, a name given to a suite of rooms when the library was redeveloped in 2001. He was vice-president of the South Australian branch of the

Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) is a collection or federation of state-based organizations aiming to support and promote the interests of Australian writers. It was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers togethe ...

, and was closely involved with the organisation of the first three Festival of Arts Writers' Weeks (1960, 1962, 1964), with his first volume of poetry launched at the second Writers' Week in 1962. He was at the inaugural meeting of

Friendly Street Poets Friendly Street Poets, often referred to as just Friendly Street, is a poetry reading group and publisher in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1975. History Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly poetry reading on 11 Nove ...

, and remained an active member and contributor to the society's annual anthologies, the ''Friendly Street Reader''. The Satura Prize is a poetry prize funded by a bequest from his estate and awarded by Friendly Streets. Bray's first book of poetry was published in 1962.

Honours, recognition and legacy

Bray was made a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1979, and is said, by his younger brother, Dr Robert Stow Bray, to have refused a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. He described his views as "æsthetic - traditional; social - emancipated; political - fluctuating" and his philosophies as "sceptical, some tendencies to

Platonism Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...

". He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

in 1991.

The John Bray Poetry Award, awarded biennially since 1986 as part of the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

, was so named to honour his distinguished services to Australian poetry. The John Jefferson Bray Memorial in Hurtle Square, Adelaide, was commissioned by the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council, is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia. It is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

in 1994. Bray died on 26 June 1995 in Adelaide. There is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

bust of Bray, sculpted by local sculptor John Dowie, in the State Library.

Selected publications

Bray's publications reflected his interests, which he listed as "poetry, history, classics". As author, these included: :* ''Poems'' (Melbourne, Cheshire Press, 1962) :* ''Poems 1961-1971'' (Brisbane, Jacaranda Press, 1972) :* ''Poems 1972-1979'' (1979) :*''Bay of Salamis and other Poems'' (1986) :*''Satura: Selected Poetry and Prose'' (1988) :*''Seventy Seven'' (Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1990) He co-edited ''No. 7 Friendly Street Poetry Reader'' (1983) with Jan Owen. He wrote two plays: * ''Papinian'' (performed 1955) * ''The Women of Troy'' (performed 1966) He also made contributions to: :* ''Well and Truly Tried'' (1982), a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

for Sir Richard Eggleston :* ''Adelaide Law School Centenary Essays'' (1983) :* ''

Australian Law Journal The ''Australian Law Journal'' is an Australian peer-reviewed law journal which has been publishing since 1927. Studies have found that it is one of the most cited Australian law journals. A 2002 study found that while on the Federal Court of A ...

References

*''Australian Who's Who'' (see also similar Australia, British, and international biographical publications), *Richard Carruthers-Żurowski,''The Bray Family of England, Canada, and Australia''(1986), deposited in the libraries of the Hampshire Family History Society and the South Australian Society for Genealogy and Heraldry. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, John Jefferson 1912 births 1995 deaths

John Jefferson John Jefferson may refer to: * John Jefferson (missionary) (1760–1807), English missionary * Joseph John Jefferson (1795–1882), English Congregationalist minister and Christian pacifist * John Wayles Jefferson (1835–1892), American busine ...

Chancellors of the University of Adelaide Chief justices of South Australia Companions of the Order of Australia People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Lawyers from Adelaide Adelaide Law School alumni 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia 20th-century Australian judges Australian King's Counsel Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities