John Hargrave (judge)

John Fletcher Hargrave
QC
Portrait of John Fletcher Hargrave, ca. 1875
Judge of the Supreme Court
In office
22 June 1865 – 11 October 1881
Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales
In office
12 October 1859 – 23 June 1865
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for East Camden
In office
15 March 1859 – 11 April 1859
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for Illawarra
In office
15 June 1859 – 11 October 1859
Judge of the District Court
In office
3 February 1859 – 21 February 1859
Personal details
Born28 December 1815
Greenwich, England
Died23 February 1885(1885-02-23) (aged 69)
Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales
SpouseAnn Hargrave
ChildrenLawrence Hargrave

John Fletcher Hargrave QC (28 December 1815 – 23 February 1885) was a British-born Australian politician and judge.

Hargrave was born to Joshua Hargrave and Sarah Hargrave (née Lee) at Greenwich, England. His father was a hardware merchant. He was educated at King's College, London in 1830 winning a certificate of honour for rhetoric. He went on to Trinity College, Cambridge and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in 1837 and a Masters of Arts in 1840.[1] He enrolled at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the Bar in 1841.

He married his cousin Ann Hargrave on 20 September 1843. They were to have three sons and a daughter. He retired from the bar in 1851 and some time after was committed to an asylum at Colney Hatch in Middlesex by his wife and he gradually recovered there. He never forgave his wife for this.[2]

He migrated to Sydney, New South Wales in February 1857. He was admitted to the New South Wales bar on his arrival and became a judge of the District Court. His wife returned to England because he could not endure her presence. He resigned from the bench in February 1859 as his judgeship was "disastrous for women suitors" as he regularly decided against them.

Following his resignation, he was appointed Solicitor General for New South Wales on 21 February 1859 in the second Cowper ministry and held that appointment until 26 October of that year.[3] He was not a member of parliament at the time he was appointed Solicitor General and Robert Owen, the member for East Camden, was appointed to the District Court to replace Hargrave, and Hargrave in turn replaced Owen as the member for East Camden at the resulting by-election.[4] East Camden was abolished in 1859, partly replaced by Illawarra, and Hargrave was successful at the election on 15 June,[5] but only served until 11 October 1859, when he resigned to accept an appointment to the Legislative Council.[3]

On 12 October 1859 he was appointed to the Legislative Council, filling the vacant role of Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council. When the second Cowper ministry resigned, Hargrave was reappointed Solicitor General in the Forster ministry on 3 November and held it till 8 March 1860.[3] He was appointed Attorney General in the first Robertson ministry from 2 April 1860, retaining the position in the third Cowper ministry until 31 July 1863. Hargrave controversially accepted the lesser role of Solicitor General to allow John Darvall to be appointed Attorney General.[6] He was appointed Queen's Counsel on 7 August 1863.[7][8] Hargrave was Solicitor General from 1 August 1863 and 15 October 1863 and again in the fourth Cowper ministry from 3 February until 21 June 1865. Hargrave resigned from the Legislative Council on 23 June 1865.[3]

In Parliament he was on the:

  • Standing Orders Committee,
  • Elections and Qualifications Committee,
  • Burwood Tramroad Continuation Act Amendment Bill Committee,
  • Late Shipwrecks Committee
  • Port Jackson Committee; and
  • the Australian Agricultural Company's Newcastle Railway Bill Committee.

He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 22 June 1865 but his swearing-in was boycotted by the New South Wales Bar.[2] He was the Judge in divorce appointed to the Divorce Division of the Court. He proved to be a disaster on the bench and he admitted that he did not sit before 11am or work after 1pm. He retired as a judge in 1881.[9]

He became reader in general jurisprudence at the University of Sydney, becoming the colony's first law lecturer on 3 August 1858. His course of twenty lectures were published in 1878.[10]

He died at Rushcutters Bay on 23 February 1885(1885-02-23) (aged 69)[11] and was buried in Waverley Cemetery. His wife Ann died on the North Shore on 29 October 1885 (aged 66).[12]

His brother Richard Hargrave also served in the New South Wales Parliament after arriving in New South Wales in 1838.[13] His son Lawrence Hargrave was the inventor of the box or cellular kite.[14] Hargrave's great, great nephew Rick Colless was a member of the Legislative Council.[15]

  1. ^ "Hargrave, John Fletcher (HRGV833JF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ a b Bennett, J M (1972). "Hargrave, John Fletcher (1815-1885)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mr John Fletcher Hargrave, QC (1815-1885)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  4. ^ Green, Antony. "1859 East Camden by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  5. ^ Green, Antony. "1859 Illawarra". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  6. ^ A barrister of England, New South Wales and Victoria (4 August 1863). "To the editor: Mr Darvall's appointment as Attorney General". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 5 September 2020 – via Trove.
    Holroyd, Arthur (5 August 1863). "To the editor: Mr Darvall's appointment as Attorney General". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2020 – via Trove.
    A barrister of England, New South Wales and Victoria (6 August 1863). "To the editor: Mr Darvall's appointment as Attorney General". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 5 September 2020 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "Supreme Court sitting in Banco". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 October 1863. p. 5. Retrieved 5 September 2020 – via Trove.
  8. ^ "NSW silk appointments". NSW Bar Association. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. ^ "John Fletcher Hargrave (1815–1885)". State Library of New South Wales project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW, 1856–2006. New South Wales Government. 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  10. ^ Hargrave, J.F. (1878), Law Lectures &c., &c. by the Hon. John Fletcher Hargrave, Sydney: John Ferguson.; Alan Davidson, “John Fletcher Hargrave: A Chronical of Australia’s First Law Lecturer”, (2021) 95 Australian Law Journal 934
  11. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 February 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 22 September 2022 – via Trove.
  12. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 October 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 22 September 2022 – via Trove.
  13. ^ "Mr Richard Hargrave (1817-1905)". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  14. ^ Inglis, Amirah (1983). "Hargrave, Lawrence (1850–1915)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Mr Richard Hargrave Colless HD App Sci(Agric) (1952-)". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
    Richard Colless (11 October 2000). "Legislative Council Rural Assistance Amendment Bill Hansard (Extract)" (pdf). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. Retrieved 19 April 2019.