Henry Gawler (lawyer)

Henry Gawler
Head and shoulders of man
Henry Gawler Approximately 1860
Born(1827-08-12)12 August 1827
Died1 December 1894(1894-12-01) (aged 67)
Burial placeWest Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide
NationalityBritish
OccupationLawyer
Known forIntroduction of Torrens Title
Spouse
Caroline Augusta Philpot
(m. 1857)
FatherGeorge Gawler

Henry Gawler (1827–1894) was the eldest surviving son of George Gawler. He first travelled to South Australia with his parents and siblings in the Pestonjee Bomanjee, arriving on 12 October 1838 when his father took over the role of Governor of South Australia. They returned to England in 1841.[1]

Henry Gawler was admitted to the bar in England in November 1852. He returned to South Australia in 1858 and worked as a solicitor in the Lands Titles Office from July 1858 to September 1884. During that time he spent two short periods as Attorney-General of South Australia.[1] He assisted Robert Torrens in drafting and amending the Real Property Act 1858 and in the early operation if the Torrens Title system.[2]

Gawler was never an elected member of parliament, but he twice served a few days as Attorney-General of South Australia, 8–17 October 1861 and 23–25 March 1876. He visited New Zealand in 1870 to assist the government there to adopt the Torrens Title system.[3]

Gawler married Caroline Augusta Philpot, daughter of Rev. Benjamin Philpot (later the Archdeacon of Man) on 25 June 1857.[3] One of their sons, Douglas Gawler moved to Perth, Western Australia and established a law firm there and was later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council.

  1. ^ a b Hetherington, R. (1966). "Gawler, George (1795–1869)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 1. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. ^ Torrens, Robert Sir; Gawler, Henry, 1829-1894 (1962), The South Australian system of conveyancing by registration of title, Public Library of South Australia, retrieved 20 February 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Mennell, Philip (1892). "Gawler, Henry" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.