Jump to content

William à Beckett: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Good Olfactory (talk | contribs)
688,950 edits
add template
 
(40 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|British barrister and colonial judge}}
{{for|the New South Wales politician|William Channing A'Beckett}}
{{for|the New South Wales politician|William Channing A'Beckett}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Sir
| honorific-prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = William à Beckett
| name = William à Beckett
| native_name =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| native_name_lang =
| honorific-suffix =
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| image = File:Sir William A'Beckett.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| smallimage = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| smallimage = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
Line 14: Line 15:
| caption =
| caption =
| order = 1st Chief Justice of the
| order = 1st Chief Justice of the
| office = Supreme Court of Victoria
| office = Supreme Court of Victoria
| term_start = 1852
| term_start = {{dts|1852|1|19|format=dmy}}
| term_end = 1857
| term_end = {{dts|1857|2|20|format=dmy}}
| predecessor = ''new office''
| predecessor = ''new office''
| successor = [[William Foster Stawell]]
| successor = [[William Foster Stawell]]
| prior_term =
| prior_term =
| office2 = [[Supreme Court of New South Wales|Supreme Court]] Judge at [[Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip|Port Phillip]]
⚫
| order2 = 3rd <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| term_start2 = {{dts|1846|2|28|format=dmy}}
⚫
| office2 = Solicitor-General of New South Wales <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| term_end2 = {{dts|1852|1|19|format=dmy}}
⚫
| term_start2 = {{start date|1841|03|df=y}} <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| predecessor2 = [[Roger Therry]]
⚫
| term_end2 = {{end date|1844|07|df=y}} <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| successor2 = Establishment of the Supreme Court of Victoria
⚫
| alongside2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| succeeding2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| order3 = 3rd <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| predecessor2 = [[John Plunkett]] <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| office3 = Solicitor-General of New South Wales <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| successor2 = [[William Montagu Manning|William Manning]] <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| term_start3 = {{start date|1841|03|df=y}} <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| constituency2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| term_end3 = {{end date|1844|07|df=y}} <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| majority2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| alongside3 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| prior_term2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
| succeeding3 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| predecessor3 = [[John Plunkett]] <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| pronunciation =
⚫
| successor3 = [[William Montagu Manning|William Manning]] <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| constituency3 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| majority3 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| prior_term3 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->
⚫
| pronunciation =
| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1806|07|28|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1806|07|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[London]], United Kingdom
| birth_place = London, England, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1869|06|27|1806|07|28|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1869|06|27|1806|07|28|df=y}}
| death_place = London
| death_place = London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| resting_place = [[West Norwood Cemetery]]
| resting_place = [[West Norwood Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| resting_place_coordinates =
Line 46: Line 52:
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|Emily Hayley {{small|(m. 1832; d. 1841)}}|Matilda Hayley {{small|(m. 1849)}}}}
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|Emily Hayley {{small|(m. 1832; d. 1841)}}|Matilda Hayley {{small|(m. 1849)}}}}
| partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| relations = {{unbulleted list|{{nowrap|[[Gilbert Abbott à Beckett]] {{small|(brother)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Thomas Turner à Beckett]] {{small|(brother)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Emma Minnie Boyd]] {{small|(granddaughter)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Thomas à Beckett]] {{small|(nephew)}}}}}}
| relations = {{unbulleted list|{{nowrap|[[Gilbert Abbott à Beckett]] {{small|(brother)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Thomas Turner à Beckett]] {{small|(brother)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Emma Minnie Boyd]] {{small|(granddaughter)}}}}|{{nowrap|[[Thomas à Beckett (judge)|Thomas à Beckett]] {{small|(nephew)}}}}}}
| children = 13
| children = 13
| parents = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters -->
| parents = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters -->
Line 68: Line 74:
| footnotes =
| footnotes =
}}
}}
{{Eureka Rebellion sidebar}}
'''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]].
'''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==
==Background==
Born in London, he was the eldest son of William à Beckett, also a solicitor.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | date = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 80 }}</ref> His younger brothers were [[Gilbert Abbott à Beckett]], one of the original staff of ''[[Punch magazine]]'' 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]].<ref name = Dod/><ref name=adb>{{cite web |author=Coppel, E. G. |url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030009b.htm |title=à Beckett, Sir William (1806 - 1869) |work=[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]] |volume=Volume 3 |publisher=[[Melbourne University Press]] |year=1969 |pages=10–11 |access-date=13 January 2008 }}</ref>
Born in London, he was the eldest son of William à Beckett, also a solicitor.<ref name = Dod>{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | date = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 80 }}</ref> His younger brothers were [[Gilbert Abbott à Beckett]], one of the original staff of ''[[Punch (magazine)|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]].<ref name = Dod/><ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Coppel |first=E G |id2=a-beckett-sir-william-2862 |title=à Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869) |volume=3 |year=1969 |pages=10–11 |access-date=2020-11-20}}</ref>


==Judge==
==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 (New South Wales politician, born 1794)|William Foster]] and [[Richard Windeyer]], defended the 11 colonists charged with murder in relation to the [[Myall Creek massacre]].<ref>{{cite book |first=RHW |last=Reece |title=Aborigines and Colonists: Aborigines and Colonial Society in New South Wales in the 1830s and 1840s |publisher=Sydney University Press |year=1974 |page=147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9c1AAAAIAAJ |isbn=9780424063508}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Geoff |first1=Lindsay |title=Aborigines, colonists and the law, 1838 |url=http://www.forbessociety.org.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Aborigines-Colonists-and-the-Law-1838_Forbes-Background-Paper-2007.pdf |access-date=19 January 2019 |year=2007 |website=ForbesSociety.org.au |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228034213/http://www.forbessociety.org.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Aborigines-Colonists-and-the-Law-1838_Forbes-Background-Paper-2007.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was appointed acting [[Solicitor General for New South Wales|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 1837, à Beckett migrated to [[New South Wales]] and edited the 'Literary News', a short-lived newspaper. 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.


In January 1846, he was transferred to the Court of the Resident Judge, the branch of the [[Supreme Court of New South Wales]] in Melbourne and sat as primary judge in equity. Following his appointment, he was created a [[knight bachelor]].<ref name = Dod/> When in January 1852 the separate colony of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] was proclaimed he became its first Chief Justice.<ref>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Sir William|Last=à Beckett|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogA.html#abeckett2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Bennett, J. M. |title=Sir William à Beckett: First Chief Justice of Victoria, 1852-57 |location=Sydney |publisher=The Federation Press |year=2001 |isbn=1-86287-409-3 |page= }}</ref>
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]].<ref name = Dod/> When in January 1852 the separate colony of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] was proclaimed he became its first [[Chief Justice of Victoria|Chief Justice]].<ref>{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Sir William|Last=à Beckett|shortlink=0-dict-biogA.html#abeckett2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Bennett, J. M. |title=Sir William à Beckett: First Chief Justice of Victoria, 1852–57 |location=Sydney |publisher=The Federation Press |year=2001 |isbn=1-86287-409-3 }}</ref>


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|date=June 2009}} À Beckett retired as Chief Justice in 1857 due to poor health, and in 1863 he returned to England.
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|date=June 2009}} À Beckett retired as Chief Justice in 1857 due to poor health, and in 1863 he returned to England.


==Author==
==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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=a'Beckett, Sir William |encyclopedia=Australian Encyclopædia |date= |year=1912 |edition=3rd revised, 1927 |publisher=Angus & Robertson Limited |location=Sydney |id= |page=2}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=a'Beckett, Sir William |encyclopedia=Australian Encyclopædia |year=1912 |edition=3rd revised, 1927 |publisher=Angus & Robertson Limited |location=Sydney |page=2}}</ref>


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]].
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]].<ref>E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney, ''Australian Literature'', Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1956, p.28.</ref>


==Family==
==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. They had 13 children, probably some from Emily.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} À Beckett died in London on 27 June 1869 and was buried in [[West Norwood Cemetery]]. He was survived by four sons, of whom William (1833-1901) married Emma Mills (1838-1906), the daughter of a convict who later founded a brewery in [[Melbourne, Victoria|Melbourne]]. Their daughter [[Emma Minnie Boyd]], a successful painter, married another painter [[Arthur Merric Boyd]], to found the artistic [[Boyd Family|Boyd dynasty]]. His nephew [[Thomas à Beckett]], son of his brother Thomas, was also a puisne judge in Australia.<ref>{{cite book |author=Balmford, Peter |title=A'Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869) |work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28 |access-date=24 November 2006 |format=subscription required }}</ref>
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|date=June 2009}} À Beckett died in London on 27 June 1869 and was buried in [[West Norwood Cemetery]]. He was survived by four sons. One, [[William Arthur Callendar à Beckett|William]], (1833–1901) married Emma Mills (1838–1906), the daughter of John Mills, a freed convict from [[Tasmania]] who founded [[brewing]] in [[Melbourne, Victoria|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 (judge)|Thomas à Beckett]], son of his brother Thomas, was also a puisne judge in Australia.<ref>{{cite ODNB |author=Balmford, Peter |title=A'Beckett, Sir William (1806–1869) |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/28 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28 |access-date=24 November 2006 |format=subscription required }}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Melbournes-Streets-and-Lanes_Discovery-Series-No.-2.pdf|title=Melbourne's streets and lanes: what's in a name?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319163931/http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Melbournes-Streets-and-Lanes_Discovery-Series-No.-2.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2018|access-date=14 April 2020}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ''Out of Harness'' (1854) — travel, prose<ref name="Austlit1">{{cite web|title= Austlit — ''Out of Harness'' by William à Beckett |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C383671|access-date= 13 August 2023}}</ref>
* ''The Earl's Choice and Other Poems'' (1863) — poetry<ref name="Austlit2">{{cite web|title= Austlit — ''The Earl's Choice and Other Poems'' by William à Beckett |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C383667|access-date= 13 August 2023}}</ref>
* ''The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems'' (1999) — poetry<ref name="Austlit3">{{cite web|title= Austlit — ''The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems'' by William à Beckett |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C477075|access-date= 13 August 2023}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 103: Line 118:
{{s-legal}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria]] | years = 1852 – 1857 }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria]] | years = 1852–1857 }}
{{s-aft| after = [[William Foster Stawell]] }}
{{s-aft| after = [[William Foster Stawell]] }}
{{s-bef| before= [[Roger Therry]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = Judge of the [[Supreme Court of NSW]]<br>[[Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip|District of Port Phillip]] | years = 1846–1852}}
{{s-non|reason=Establishment of the<br>[[Supreme Court of Victoria]]}}
{{s-bef| before= [[John Plunkett]] }}
{{s-bef| before= [[John Plunkett]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Solicitor General for New South Wales]] | years = 1841 – 1844 }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Solicitor General for New South Wales]] | years = 1841–1844 }}
{{s-aft| after = [[William Montagu Manning|William Manning]] }}
{{s-aft| after = [[William Montagu Manning|William Manning]] }}
{{s-end}}
{{s-end}}


{{Boyd family}}

{{People of the Eureka Rebellion}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeckett, William}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeckett, William}}
[[Category:Australian people of English descent]]
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1869 deaths]]
[[Category:1869 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at West Norwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Burials at West Norwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:Chief Justices of Victoria]]
[[Category:Chief justices of Victoria]]
[[Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia]]
[[Category:British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
Line 124: Line 144:
[[Category:Colony of New South Wales judges]]
[[Category:Colony of New South Wales judges]]
[[Category:Colony of Victoria judges]]
[[Category:Colony of Victoria judges]]
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian judges]]
[[Category:Solicitors general for New South Wales]]
[[Category:19th-century Australian writers]]
[[Category:Settlers of Melbourne]]
[[Category:Eureka Rebellion]]
[[Category:People of the Eureka Rebellion]]
[[Category:À Beckett family]]

Latest revision as of 03:55, 29 August 2024

For the New South Wales politician, see William Channing A'Beckett.

Sir
William à Beckett
1st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
In office
19 January 1852 – 20 February 1857
Preceded bynew office
Succeeded byWilliam Foster Stawell
Supreme Court Judge at Port Phillip
In office
28 February 1846 – 19 January 1852
Preceded byRoger Therry
Succeeded byEstablishment of the Supreme Court of Victoria
3rd Solicitor-General of New South Wales
In office
March 1841 (1841-03) – July 1844 (1844-07)
Preceded byJohn Plunkett
Succeeded byWilliam Manning
Personal details
Born(1806-07-28)28 July 1806
London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Died27 June 1869(1869-06-27) (aged 62)
London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Resting placeWest Norwood Cemetery
Spouses
  • Emily Hayley (m. 1832; d. 1841)
  • Matilda Hayley (m. 1849)
Relations
Children13
EducationWestminster School
OccupationBarrister; Politician
This article is part of a series on the
Eureka Rebellion
Eureka FlagUnion Jack
Eureka Stockade Riot by John Black Henderson (1854)
Origins
The Eureka Rebellion
High treason trials
Legacy
flag Australia portal

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

[edit]

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]

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]
  • 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]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 80.
  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.
  11. ^ "Austlit — Out of Harness by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Austlit — The Earl's Choice and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Austlit — The First Gold Rush at Melbourne and Other Poems by William à Beckett". Austlit. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
[edit]
Legal offices
New office Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
1852–1857 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW
District of Port Phillip
1846–1852 		Establishment of the
Supreme Court of Victoria
Preceded by Solicitor General for New South Wales
1841–1844 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=William_à_Beckett&oldid=1242855878"