Rosemary Anne Balmford (; 15 September 1933 – 8 August 2017) was an Australian judge, barrister, solicitor and legal academic. She was the first female 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 ...

, and the first female lecturer in the law faculty of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

Early life and education

Balmford was born in 1933 in Melbourne. Her parents were Sir John Norris, also a barrister and Supreme Court judge, and Dame Ada Norris (). Her mother taught her to read at the age of three, and she was educated at Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School, and the University of Melbourne where she resided at

Janet Clarke Hall Janet Clarke Hall (JCH) is a residential college of the University of Melbourne in Australia. The college is associated with the Anglican Province of Victoria. Founded in 1886 JCH was the first university college in Australia to admit women ...

. At Melbourne, she was awarded the Supreme Court Prize in 1954 for achieving the highest examination scores in her year.

Legal career

In 1957, Balmford was appointed the first female lecturer in law at

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers Juris Doctor, J.D., Master of Laws, LL.M, Doctor of P ...

, the law faculty of the University of Melbourne. She would later write about her academic career in her memoir, ''A Funny Course for a Woman''. She then joined the firm Whiting & Byrne as a solicitor and partner, where she met and married Peter Balmford in 1963. She returned to the University of Melbourne, working at the university's in-house legal department and studying a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. As a member of the

Equal Opportunity Board The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is a statutory authority in the Australian state of Victoria. It replaced the Equal Opportunity Board, set up by Victorian Premier Dick Hamer Sir Rupert James "Dick" Hamer, (2 ...

in the late 1970s, Balmford heard the landmark sex discrimination case ''Wardley v Ansett Transport Industries'', when the board found that Ansett Airlines' refusal to employ pilot Deborah Wardley was illegal. In 1982, Balmford was appointed as a member of the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

. In 1993, Balmford served as the only woman on the bench of the

County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and ci ...

, and in 1996, became the first woman to serve as a judge of the

Ornithology

In addition to her legal career, Balmford was a keen amateur naturalist, with a special interest in

ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. She was secretary of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

from 1969 to 1972, and wrote several books about Australian birds, including ''A Bird Atlas of the Melbourne Region'' (1978) and ''The Beginner's Guide to Australian Birds'' (1990).

Honours

In 1998, Balmford was conferred with an Honorary

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

s (LLD) by

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. In the

2012 Australia Day Honours The 2012 Australia Day Honours were appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2012 by the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce. The Australia ...

, Balmford was made a

Member 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 ...

(AM) for "service to the judiciary, the practice of law in Victoria, and to the study of ornithology".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmford, Rosemary 1933 births 2017 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria Australian barristers Australian solicitors Academic staff of the University of Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Australian ornithologists Australian women ornithologists People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne Members of the Order of Australia Judges of the County Court of Victoria 20th-century Australian judges 21st-century Australian judges People educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar 20th-century Australian women judges 21st-century Australian women judges