Robert Bruce Burnside (22 April 1862 – 8 August 1929) was an Australian barrister and judge. He served on the

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of or more ...

from December 1902 until his death in August 1929.

Early life and education

Burnside was born in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

, to Mary Elizabeth (née Francis) and Bruce Lockhart Burnside. His father was the colony's

solicitor-general A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

at the time, and later served as

Chief Justice of Ceylon The chief justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the chief justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

. After attending the

Royal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the ( 3 & 4 Vict. c. lxxxvi). It was a charitable institution, established as a boarding school for the sons ...

in London, Burnside studied law, training as a barrister. He entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1881 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1884, leaving for Western Australia later that year.

Career

Burnside initially had his own firm in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, but later went into partnership with

Douglas Gawler Douglas George Gawler (9 November 1860 – 6 May 1915) was an Australian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1910 until his death, representing Metropolitan-Suburban Province. Gawler was b ...

(a future member of parliament) in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

. In January 1891, Burnside was appointed to the position of

Usher of the Black Rod The usher of the Black Rod is an official in the parliaments of several countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The title is often shortened to Black Rod, and in some countries, formally known as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or Lady Usher ...

in the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. He served until July 1894, when he was made crown solicitor (equivalent to

). In December 1902, Burnside was appointed to the vacant fourth position on the Supreme Court, as a

puisne justice Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

. He succeeded Frederick Moorhead, who had died after only seven months in office, and joined Edward Stone (the chief justice),

Stephen Henry Parker Sir Stephen Henry Parker (7 November 1846 – 13 December 1927) was a lawyer and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914. Biography Early life Stephen Henry Parker was the second son of Stephen Stanley Park ...

, and Robert McMillan on the bench. Early in 1903, Burnside was made president of the State Court of Arbitration, a position which at the time was held only by justices of the Supreme Court. He served several terms in the position, totalling almost ten years, and was generally considered impartial. Burnside also occasionally presided over criminal trials, and headed two

royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

s in the late 1910s.

Personal life and death

Burnside died at his home in

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

in August 1929, after a brief period of ill health. He had married Mary Charity Bruce in 1887, with whom he had one son, Dr. Bruce Burnside. Outside of his professional career, he had a keen interest in water sport, serving as president of the

West Australian Rowing Club The West Australian Rowing Club is a rowing club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club has operated out of a boatshed next to Barrack Square Barrack Square is an open public square on the foreshore of Perth Water on the Swan River (Wes ...

and commodore of the

Royal Perth Yacht Club The Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) is a yacht club in Perth, Western Australia. It is the third oldest yacht club in Australia after the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnside, Robert Bruce 1862 births 1929 deaths Australian barristers Bahamian emigrants Immigrants to Australia English barristers Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia People educated at the Royal Naval School People from Nassau, Bahamas Public servants of Western Australia Members of Lincoln's Inn 19th-century Bahamian people