John Walpole Willis

John Walpole Willis (4 January 1793 – 10 September 1877) was an English-born judge, and a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Early life

Willis was the second son of Captain William Willis and his wife Mary. Willis was educated at Rugby, the Charterhouse (where he was expelled) and Trinity Hall, Cambridgecite web |url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020546b.htm |title=Willis, John Walpole (1793 - 1877) |accessdate=2007-08-11 |author=John V. Barry |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2 |publisher=MUP |year=1967 |pages=602-604] . He was called to the English bar and practised as a chancery barrister. In 1820-1 he published his "Pleadings in Equity", and in 1827 "A Practical Treatise on the Duties and Responsibilities of Trustees".

Upper Canada and British Guiana

In 1827 Willis was appointed a puisne judge of the King's bench in Upper Canada. Within a few months Willis fell foul of the attorney-general, John Beverley Robinson, a very experienced official, and took the most unusual course of stating in court that Robinson had neglected his duty and that he would feel it necessary "to make a representation on the subject to his majesty's government". He also took a strong stand on the question of the legality of the court as then constituted, and this led in June 1828 to Willis being removed from his position by the lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. Willis returned to England in July, and the question was referred to the privy council which ruled against Willis. His conduct was treated as an error of judgment and he was given another appointment as a judge in Demerara, British Guiana.

New South Wales

In 1836 Willis returned to England and was soon afterwards made a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. On 3 November 1837 he arrived in Sydney. Initially Willis was on good terms with Sir James Dowling who a few months later became chief justice, but in 1839 differences arose, and on one occasion Willis in open court made observations which were taken as a reflection on the chief justice. He also brought forward the question whether the chief justice had forfeited his office by acting as judge of the admiralty court. Matters came to such a pass that in March 1840 the governor, Sir George Gipps, arranged that Willis should be appointed resident judge at Melbourne. In Melbourne he came in conflict with the press, the legal fraternity, and members of the public. In October 1842 Gipps stated in a dispatch that: cquote|differences have again broken out between Mr J. Walpole Willis . . . a and the judges of the supreme court of Sydney ... for many months the town of Melbourne has been kept in a state of continued excitement by the proceedings of Mr Justice Willis and the extraordinary nature of the harangues, which he is in the habit of delivering from the bench.In February 1843 Gipps recommended to Lord Stanley that Willis should be removed from his position. Willis left Melbourne for London later in February and appealed to the English government. In August 1846 the privy council reversed the order for his dismissal on technical grounds, and he was awarded the arrears of his salary to that date. Willis then offered his resignation, but this was not accepted and his commission was revoked. This course was taken because otherwise it might not have been understood that the order was reversed not as being "unjust in itself, but only as having been made in an improper manner" [ "Historical Records of Australia", ser. I, vol. XXV, p. 208.] Willis was never given any other position.

Late life

In 1850 Willis published a volume "On the Government of the British Colonies", and afterwards lived in retirement in the west of England. He died on 10 September 1877. He was married. twice, firstly to Lady Mary Isabella Lyon, and secondly to Ann Susanna Kent, daughter of Colonel Thomas Henry Bund. He was survived by a son (Robert Bruce) by the first marriage, and by a son and two daughters by the second marriage.

References

Additional resources listed by the "Australian Dictionary of Biography":
*"Historical Records of Australia", series 1, vols 19-22
*E. F. Moore, "Reports", vol 5, p 379
*T. McCombie, "The History of the Colony of Victoria" (Melb, 1858)
*J. L. Forde, "The Story of the Bar of Victoria" (Melb, no date)
*R. Therry, "Reminiscences of Thirty Years' Residence in New South Wales and Victoria" (Lond, 1863)
*Garryowen (E. Finn), "Chronicles of Early Melbourne", vols 1-2 (Melb, 1888)
*G. B. Vasey, ‘John Walpole Willis’, "Victorian Historical Magazine", 1 (1911).

External links