Patrick Real (17 March 1846 – 10 June 1928) was a

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

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 ...

, a colony and later a state of

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 ...

Early life

Real was born in Pallas Green,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, Ireland, the youngest and sixth child of James Real, tenant farmer, and his wife Ellen, ''née'' Donegan. Real was taken to Australia as a young child in 1850. His father died at the Dunwich Quarantine Station, and his mother settled in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, where he was apprenticed to a carpenter. Subsequently he was employed in the Ipswich railway workshops until, at the age of twenty-one, he formed the idea of becoming a barrister.

Legal career

Relinquishing his trade, he devoted himself to study. He was admitted to the Queensland Bar in September 1874 and practised with success. In February 1878 he was appointed Crown Prosecutor for the Central District of Queensland and, on the death of Justice

Charles Mein Charles Stuart Mein (14 June 1841 – 30 June 1890) was a politician and judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. Mein was born in Maitland, New South Wales, and attended William Timothy Cape's school in Darlinghurst until 1857, after which ...

in 1890, a Puisne Judge. In 1903 when Pope Cooper was appointed Chief Justice, Real was appointed Senior Puisne Judge. There was animosity between the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government and the judges, playing out through a series of cases challenging government actions and legislation..''In re McCawley'
[1918
/nowiki> 62">918">[1918
/nowiki> 62 Supreme Court of Queensland">Supreme Court (Full Court) (Qld). overturned by .''Taylor v Attorney-General (Qld)'
[1918
/nowiki> 194], Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Privy Council. (2006) 30(3) Melbourne University Law Review 605. The parliament List of Australian judges whose security of tenure was challenged, undermined his security of tenure by passing the ''Judges Retirement Act'' 1921 (Qld), the effect of which was that immediately upon proclamation three out of six judges, Chief Justice Cooper and Justices Real and Charles Chubb (Australian judge), Chubb were compulsorily retired, which permitted the government to appoint new judges. McGarvie ''The Foundations of Judicial Independence in a Modern Democracy'' (1991) 1 Journal of Judicial Administration 3.

Family

Real married Anne Catharine Thynne, sister of

Andrew Joseph Thynne Andrew Joseph Thynne (30 October 1847 – 27 February 1927) was a lawyer and politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council and Attorney-General of Queensland. Early life Thynne son of Edward Thynn ...

, in January 1879, at Ipswich. He and Anne had four children, three daughters, and a son: Ellen, Mary Josephine, Kathleen, and Edward Thynne. The two eldest children, however, did not survive infancy, dying aged 10 months, and 4 months, respectively. His son was Edward Thynne Real, KC, leader of the Queensland bar.

Later life

After his retirement as a judge, aged 76, Real practised as a consulting barrister, without great success. Real died in 1928 and was buried in

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 ...

.Real Patrick
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 13 April 2014.

Legacy

His home Eulalia in Norman Park was listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Real, Patrick 1846 births 1928 deaths Irish emigrants to Australia Burials at Toowong Cemetery Colony of Queensland judges 19th-century Australian judges 20th-century Australian judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland