Sir Francis Forbes was a Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...

.

Early life

Forbes was born and educated in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, the son of Dr. Francis Forbes M.D. and his wife Mary, née Tucker. At the age of 19 he traveled to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to enter Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

. He was called to the Bar in 1812 and became a Crown Law Officer in Bermuda and married Amelia Sophia Grant in 1813, returning to England in 1815.

Newfoundland

In 1816 he was invited to be Chief Justice of Newfoundland, and was sworn in at St. John's

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

 in July, 1816. While in Newfoundland, he severely curtailed the powers of the Fishing Admirals. In 1820, he wrote the lyrics of the song "The Banks of Newfoundland

The Banks of Newfoundland

"The Banks Of Newfoundland" is the earliest Newfoundland composition set down in music notation. It was composed by Chief Justice Francis Forbes in 1820 and published in a piano arrangement by Oliver Ditson of Boston....

".

New South Wales

In 1822, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, to oversee the reform of the administration of the legal system in the colony, following the inquiry into the colony's affairs by commissioner John Bigge

John Bigge

John Thomas Bigge was an English judge and royal commissioner.Bigge was born at Benton House, Northumberland, England, the second son of Thomas Charles Bigge, High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1771...

. Before departing for Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, he helped draft the "New South Wales Act" of 1823 (4 Geo. IV c. 96); this bill, along with the "Charter of Justice" issued under it on 13 October 1823, the old legal tribunals of convict days were superseded by a Supreme Court with comprehensive legal jurisdiction; under the new system, not only was he the sole judge, subject only to the appellate power of the Governor, but was an official member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, and all colonial legislation had to bear his imprimatur.

Forbes arrived in Sydney in March 1824, and Court commenced on 17 May 1824. The governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane

Thomas Brisbane

Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...

 ,was impressed by Forbes, and in his dispatches of 1 July and 12 August 1824 to mention that "since the arrival of the chief justice the state of the Colony has assumed a new tone". Forbes had no difficulties with Brisbane, but it was not long before he came in conflict with the new governor, Sir Ralph Darling

Ralph Darling

General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...

. It was proposed to pass acts for the purpose of restraining the liberty of the press, and Forbes refused to certify to them as he considered they were repugnant to the laws of England. He pointed out how necessary it was to go carefully, as in the then conditions of the colony the people looked upon the supreme court as their protection against absolute power. "I had been appointed by Parliament," said Forbes, "to see that the laws of the Empire were not encroached upon . . . I refused to certify the Governor's Bills because I thought them repugnant to law . . . What legal right could the Governor claim to press me further?". After great discussion the issue went to the colonial office whose legal advisers were of opinion that in refusing to grant his certificate to the act for licensing newspapers, Forbes was right, and that in regard to the newspaper stamp act he was wrong. but as there was no reason to doubt that the judge had formed his conclusion honestly, he had executed his duty in acting upon that opinion. Forbes's workload had been and continued to be heavy, his controversy with Darling was harassing, and his health suffered.

Late life

Forbes suffered serious bouts of illness from 1826; in May 1836 he returned to England for a year's leave; in 1837, he retired his post, and was honoured with a knighthood that same year. He died at "Leitrim Lodge", his home in Newtown, New South Wales

Newtown, New South Wales

Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....

, on 8 November 1841.

External links

• "Sir Francis Forbes" at the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition
• Many of his NSW cases and decisions are online: Decisions of the Superior Courts of New South Wales, 1788-1899