Sir William Thomas Prentice (1 June 1919 – 31 January 2004) was a Chief Justice of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and a Justice of the

Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea The Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea has been the highest court of Papua New Guinea since 16 September 1975, replacing the pre-Independence Supreme Court (corresponding to the post-Independence National Court) and the overseas appellate tribunal ...

Early life and education

Prentice was born in

Ermington, New South Wales Ermington is a Riverside Suburb in the Geographical & Demographical Centre of Greater Sydney, NSW, Australia. Ermington is located Only 15 kilometres from the Sydney Central Business District, in the Local Government Area of the City of Parramat ...

, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, one of six children to Claud S. and Pauline (née Pearson) Prentice, whose marriage was registered in

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

in 1912. He attended St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill where he captained the senior debating team and matriculated in 1935 winning a scholarship to study arts and law at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He was active in the Campion Society at Sydney University and joined the

Sydney University Regiment Sydney University Regiment (SUR) is an officer-training regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. Its predecessor, the University Volunteer Rifle Corps, was raised in 1900 as a unit of the colonial New South Wales Defence Force. During the 20th ...

.Prentice obit at Naremburn Progress
/ref> Following active service in

WWII 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 ...

resumed his legal studies, graduated and was admitted to the Bar 1947. He had an active practice from Wentworth Chambers in Sydney.Prentice obit at NSW Bar Assn
/ref>

War service

In 1940 he volunteered for the AIF. He was commissioned and served in the 7th Division, 2/33 Battalion in the Middle East. He was recalled to support the militia in the defence of Australia and was involved in the Owen Stanley campaign and fought on the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japane ...

as a staff captain with 7th Division HQ. He was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded an MBE for his service on the

. He was with the 7th Division at Lae and Bougainville.

New Guinea career

Following WWII, Prentice became a member of the Council of

Affairs, responsible for the promotion of legal education for Papua New Guineans. He was influential in the establishment of the Faculty of Law at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

. In 1970 Prentice was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea and served on that court for 10 years. He was appointed successively senior puisne judge in 1975 and chief justice in 1978. His period on the bench transected the momentous years of change through self-government, independence and post-independence. Prentice was responsible for many leading judgments, particularly in the area of constitutional interpretation, which have had a profound effect on the development of the law in Papua New Guinea. He was knighted in 1977. In 1978 Prentice presided over a traffic accident case in which Morrie Modeda - accused of a dangerous driving charge, occasion a man's death - was hacked to death by relatives of the deceased as he and court party including Prentice attended an inspection at the site of the accident. In the concluding proceedings Prentice termed the action "cold-blooded, planned treachery" and described it as a "lawless and disgraceful episode". In March 1980, Sir William Prentice resigned as Chief Justice in controversial circumstances relating to the Rooney crisis - a constitutional crisis that tested the principle of the separation of powers. Prentice and four other judges resigned over the affair. He returned to Australia where he served for some years as a senior 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 ...

. He retired from active practice in 1987.

Personal

Prentice's maternal grandfather William Pearson was a successful Sydney bookmaker and owner of the prizewinning thoroughbred

Amounis Amounis was an Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He won 33 races over distances ranging from 6 to 12 furlongs (1,200 to 2,400 metres). Of these wins, 27 were in "Principal Races" (equivalent to today's Group races or "Black Type" ra ...

who on his death in 1938 left a £100,000 estate to his daughter Pauline, Prentice's mother.The Argus 30 April 1938
/ref> A devout Catholic, William Prentice was a member of the

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

Society for 55 years and served as councillor and honorary secretary in 1952-54. He was appointed an honorary life member and participated in the silver jubilee celebrations of the society in 1994-95. Prentice married Mary Dignam in 1946 and they had four children. Before and after his New Guinea posting he lived in the Sydney suburb of

Naremburn Naremburn is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Naremburn is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby. History The suburb ...

. He died in February 2004, Mary had predeceased him by six months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, William 1919 births 2004 deaths Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Bachelor Sydney Law School alumni Australian Roman Catholics People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Chief justices of Papua New Guinea Australian expatriates in Papua New Guinea