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Sir
William à Beckett
Sir William à Beckett
1st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
	In office; 19 January 1852 – 20 February 1857
Preceded by	new office
Succeeded by	William Foster Stawell
Supreme Court Judge at Port Phillip
	In office; 28 February 1846 – 19 January 1852
Preceded by	Roger Therry
Succeeded by	Establishment of the Supreme Court of Victoria
3rd Solicitor-General of New South Wales
	In office; March 1841 – July 1844
Preceded by	John Plunkett
Succeeded by	William Manning
Personal details
Born	28 July 1806; London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died	27 June 1869 (aged 62); London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Resting place	West Norwood Cemetery
Spouses	Emily Hayley (m. 1832; d. 1841); Matilda Hayley (m. 1849);
Relations	Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (brother); Thomas Turner à Beckett (brother); Emma Minnie Boyd (granddaughter); Thomas à Beckett (nephew);
Children	13
Education	Westminster School
Occupation	Barrister; Politician

Sir William à Beckett (28 July 1806 – 27 June 1869) was a British barrister and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Background

Born in London, he was the eldest son of William à Beckett, also a solicitor.^[1] His younger brothers were Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, one of the original staff of Punch and the author of 'Comic History of England', and Thomas Turner à Beckett (13 September 1808 – 1 July 1892). He was educated at Westminster School, publishing a youthful volume of verse, The Siege of Dumbarton Castle, in 1824. In 1829 he was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn.^[1]^[2]

Legal career

In 1837, à Beckett migrated to New South Wales and edited the 'Literary News', a short-lived newspaper. In 1838 à Beckett, along with William Foster and Richard Windeyer, defended the 11 colonists charged with murder in relation to the Myall Creek massacre.^[3]^[4] He was appointed acting Solicitor General for the colony in March 1841, and Solicitor General in March 1843. In July 1844 he became an acting judge, and was made a full puisne judge of the Supreme Court of NSW.

In January 1846, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip as the resident judge. In 1851 he was created a knight bachelor.^[1] When in January 1852 the separate colony of Victoria was proclaimed he became its first Chief Justice.^[5]^[6]

He returned to Melbourne in December 1854 in time to participate in the Eureka Stockade trials. Although often accused of the inflammatory comments at the trial of the arsonists of the Eureka Hotel, it was the actually the Acting Chief Justice Redmond Barry who sparked the Eureka uprising.^{[citation needed]} À Beckett retired as Chief Justice in 1857 due to poor health, and in 1863 he returned to England.

Author

Politically conservative, à Beckett was strongly opposed to the social disruption caused by the Victorian Gold Rush and under the pseudonym 'Colonus' espoused his views in an influential pamphlet somewhat cumbersomely entitled Does the Discovery of Gold in Victoria Viewed in Relation to its Moral and Social Effects as Hitherto Developed Deserve to be Considered a National Blessing or a National Curse? late in 1852. He presided over a number of important trials including the robbers of gold from the barque Nelson in Hobson's Bay in 1852, but growing disillusion with the state of society in Victoria saw him leave for England with his family in February 1853.^[7]

He wrote a number of books, including several volumes of his poetry, and a manual for magistrates of the Court of Petty Sessions, the predecessor of the Magistrates Court of Victoria.^[8]

Family

À Beckett married firstly Emily Hayley in 1832. She died on 1 June 1841 and he married secondly Matilda Hayley, her sister, in 1849. He had 13 children with his two wives.^{[citation needed]} À Beckett died in London on 27 June 1869 and was buried in West Norwood Cemetery. He was survived by four sons. One, William, (1833–1901) married Emma Mills (1838–1906), the daughter of John Mills, a freed convict from Tasmania who founded brewing in Melbourne. Their daughter Emma Minnie Boyd, whose pursuit was painting, married another of the same pursuit, Arthur Merric Boyd, and there began extended generations of artists in Australian cultural life, collectively the Boyd family. Sir William's nephew Thomas à Beckett, son of his brother Thomas, was also a puisne judge in Australia.^[9]

Legacy

A'Beckett Street, located in Melbourne's Central Business District, is named for Sir William and his influential role as Chief Justice of Victoria.^[10]

Bibliography

Out of Harness (1854) — travel, prose^[11]
The Earl's Choice and Other Poems (1863) — poetry^[12]
The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems (1999) — poetry^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 80.
^ Coppel, E G (1969). "à Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 3. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
^ Reece, RHW (1974). Aborigines and Colonists: Aborigines and Colonial Society in New South Wales in the 1830s and 1840s. Sydney University Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780424063508.
^ Geoff, Lindsay (2007). "Aborigines, colonists and the law, 1838" (PDF). ForbesSociety.org.au. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
^ Serle, Percival (1949). "à Beckett, Sir William". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
^ Bennett, J. M. (2001). Sir William à Beckett: First Chief Justice of Victoria, 1852–57. Sydney: The Federation Press. ISBN 1-86287-409-3.
^ "a'Beckett, Sir William". Australian Encyclopædia (3rd revised, 1927 ed.). Sydney: Angus & Robertson Limited. 1912. p. 2.
^ E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney, Australian Literature, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1956, p.28.
^ Balmford, Peter (2004). "A'Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869)" (subscription required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28. Retrieved 24 November 2006. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Melbourne's streets and lanes: what's in a name?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^ "Austlit — Out of Harness by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
^ "Austlit — The Earl's Choice and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
^ "Austlit — The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

External links

Mennell, Philip (1892). "a'Beckett, Sir William" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
Review of biography
Supreme Court of Victoria Website

Legal offices
New office	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria 1852–1857	Succeeded by William Foster Stawell
Preceded by Roger Therry	Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW District of Port Phillip 1846–1852	Establishment of the Supreme Court of Victoria
Preceded by John Plunkett	Solicitor General for New South Wales 1841–1844	Succeeded by William Manning

[Dod-1] Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 80.

[adb-2] Coppel, E G (1969). "à Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 3. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 20 November 2020.

[3] Reece, RHW (1974). Aborigines and Colonists: Aborigines and Colonial Society in New South Wales in the 1830s and 1840s. Sydney University Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780424063508.

[4] Geoff, Lindsay (2007). "Aborigines, colonists and the law, 1838" (PDF). ForbesSociety.org.au. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

[5] Serle, Percival (1949). "à Beckett, Sir William". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

[6] Bennett, J. M. (2001). Sir William à Beckett: First Chief Justice of Victoria, 1852–57. Sydney: The Federation Press. ISBN 1-86287-409-3.

[7] "a'Beckett, Sir William". Australian Encyclopædia (3rd revised, 1927 ed.). Sydney: Angus & Robertson Limited. 1912. p. 2.

[8] E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney, Australian Literature, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1956, p.28.

[9] Balmford, Peter (2004). "A'Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869)" (subscription required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28. Retrieved 24 November 2006. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[10] "Melbourne's streets and lanes: what's in a name?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

[Austlit1-11] "Austlit — Out of Harness by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

[Austlit2-12] "Austlit — The Earl's Choice and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

[Austlit3-13] "Austlit — The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

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PROFILPELAJAR.COM

William à Beckett

Background

Legal career

Author

Family

Legacy

Bibliography

See also

References

External links

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