Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/258

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

232 ADKLAIDE AND VICINITY Right ho,, sir s. j. Way of Lieutenant-Governor — the first occasion on which it was bestowed on a Chief Justice before his retirement. In the Birthday list for rSqg Mr. Way received a baronetcy — the fourth which has been conferred in Australia, and the first in South Australia. Until 1898 the Chief Justice remained a bachelor. On his birthday in that year he was married to Katherine (iollan, widow of the late Dr. Blue. The marriage is a hapjn' one Lady Way having identified herself with her husliand's social and philanthropic pursuits. During his last administration of the (Government in 1899 the Chief justice had a dangerous illness, his recovery from which occasioned unmistakable rejoicings by all classes of his fellow-citizens. brom his first entry into public life .Sir .Samuel Way consistently advocated the federation of Australia and the maintenance and strengthening of the ties betw(;en b'ngiand and her Colonies. His judicial office, however, discjualified him from becoming a member of the Convention by which the Constitution of the Commonwealth was framed. He did not fail, when the time came, to protest against any limitation of the right of apjieal to the .Sovereign in Council, which is so prized by the great majority of Australian citizens, and which is so essential to the connection with the Mother Country. The controversy as to Clause' 74 of the Commonwealth Bill is not yet forgotten. The arguments which the Chief justice advanced greatly hel])ed the rejection of the clause as originallv framed and in bringing about the final compromise by which the right of appeal from the State Courts is left untouched, and is only limited from the High Court on questions with respect to the jurisdiction of the States and Commonwealth iutc7- sc. At the inauguration of the Commonwealth in Sydney on January i, igor, Sir -Samuel was present as Lieutenant-Governor of the State of .South Australia, and he was a guest of the State Of 'ictoria at the opening of the Commonwealth Parliament in Melbourne in May, 1901. Mr. Kdvvin Gordon Blackmore, C.M.G. BORN at Bath, Somersetshire, England, on Septembers:, 1837, Mr. E. G. Blackmore, C. M.G., received his education first at a private school, then by private tuition, and subsequently at King Edward T. Cirammar School, Bath. Prior to coming to South Australia, he followed pastoral pursuits in New Zealand, and participated in the Maori War, receiving a medal for military services. In October, 1864, he was appointed Librarian to the South Australian Parliament; in December, i86c, Clerk Assistant of House of A.ssembly ; in May, 1883, Clerk ; and in May, 1887, Clerk of the Legislative Council and gazetted Clerk of the Parliaments, (^n January i, 1901, he was made a C.M.G., and on April 3. 1901, appointed Clerk of Parliaments to the Commonwealth Parliament. He was also Clerk of the Australasian Federal Conventions at Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne in 1897-8, as well as Clerk of the Constitutional Committee which drafted the Australian Commonw<:alth Bill. He is recogni.sed in Australasia and England as one of the world's authorities on Constitutional Law, and has contributed largely to the complete interpretation of the written and unwritten laws governing Parliamentary procedure. The following are the works he has issued : — " The Decisions of Mr. Speaker Denison, 1 857-1 872," " The Decisions of Mr. .Speaker Brand, 1872-1884," "The Decisions of Mr. Speaker Peel, 1884-1900," "The Practice and Procedure of the Legislative Council," " The Practice and Procedure of the House iif Assembly," and "The Law of the Constitution of .South Australia." The value of these treatises has Ix-en recognised by the Speakers and Chairmen of Committees of the Imperial Parliament, as well as by .Sir Erskine May, a world-renowned constitutionalist, whilst the 'J'niics and other leading newspapers have favorabh criticised his works.