Sir Thomas Munro Gault (, 31 October 1938 – 19 May 2015) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

jurist. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as well as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. He was also a justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji. Gault attended Wellington College and graduated with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Z ...

. After graduation, he was a member of the law firm A J Park & Son for 20 years. In 1981, he began practising as a barrister sole, and in 1984 he was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. His first appointment to the bench was as a Judge of the High Court in 1987, followed three years later by being made a member of the Court of Appeal. He was appointed President of the Court of Appeal in May 2002. In the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...

, Gault was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the judiciary. In the 2009 Special Honours, he accepted re-designation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government. A keen golfer, Gault won the New Zealand Universities’ Championship, and was awarded Blues by both Victoria University and the University of New Zealand. Moving into the administration of the game, he was President of the New Zealand Golf Association from 1987 to 1996 and as an Advisory Member of the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status Committees from 1978 to 1996. He was referee for

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

from 1993 to 1998. He joined The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1994, and was made its first New Zealand captain in September 2005. Gault died at home in Auckland in 2015.

References

External links

Supreme Court Judges
Retrieved 7 March 2006.
First Captain from New Zealand drives in
, 22 September 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gault, Thomas 1938 births 2015 deaths Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Golf administrators High Court of New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand judges Supreme Court of New Zealand judges Victoria University of Wellington alumni Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) New Zealand judges on the courts of Hong Kong New Zealand judges on the courts of Fiji Supreme Court of Fiji justices Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand King's Counsel Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council People from Wellington City New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 21st-century New Zealand lawyers