Sir James Dowling was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-born Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

 in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...

 1837 – 1844.

James Dowling was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the son of Vincent Dowling of Queen's County

County Laois

County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and brother of Alfred Septimus Dowling

Alfred Septimus Dowling

Alfred Septimus Dowling was a British law reporter.-Biography:Dowling was the fourth son of Vincent Dowling of Queen's County, Ireland, but was probably born in London...

. Educated at St Paul's School, he later became a parliamentary reporter, studied law and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 in May 1815. He edited the second edition of W. Paley's Law and Practice of Summary Convictions, and was also responsible for several volumes of Reports of Cases.

Dowling applied to the Colonial Office for an appointment in June 1827 and on 6 August 1827 he was appointed third judge at Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, where he arrived in February 1828. He acted with consideration and tact over a question of precedence which immediately arose. Governor Ralph Darling

Ralph Darling

General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...

 held that the terms of his commission placed Dowling next in precedence to the chief justice, Francis Forbes

Francis Forbes

Sir Francis Forbes was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Early life:...

, while Stephen, the other judge, pointed out that in England such questions were decided by seniority. Dowling suggested that the matter should be referred to the home authorities, and that in the meantime Stephen should take precedence. The question was settled in favour of Stephen's view, and Dowling cheerfully accepted the position of junior judge. The state of Stephen's health, however, threw a good deal of work on the shoulders of Dowling, who also learned that in Sydney in those days a judge was constantly open to criticism. In June 1832 he found it necessary to defend his judgment in a particular case which had been criticized in letters printed in the Sydney Monitor, and was assured by Viscount Goderich that he would not permit himself "to entertain even a momentary impression to his prejudice". In December Stephen retired and Dowling became second judge. In January 1834 some remarks of Dowling's on the conduct of a criminal trial led to the three judges drawing up an important memorandum suggesting many possible improvements in dealing with criminal cases.

In September 1835 Dowling was appointed acting chief justice during the absence of Forbes, who was on long leave. William Westbrooke Burton

William Westbrooke Burton

Sir William Westbrooke Burton was a judge and president of the legislative council, New South Wales, .-Early life:...

, the third judge, objected to this on the ground that his previous appointment as a judge at the Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

 made him senior to Dowling. In April 1837 Forbes retired from his office, and Dowling was appointed chief justice on 29 August 1837. He had the misfortune to have associated with him as third judge John Walpole Willis

John Walpole Willis

John Walpole Willis was an English-born judge, and a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.- Early life :...

 who arrived at Sydney in November 1837, and made himself so obnoxious to the chief justice that for the sake of peace Governor Gipps

George Gipps

Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this...

 transferred Willis to Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 in January 1841. Dowling was present at the trial of the Myall Creek Massacre

Myall Creek massacre

Myall Creek Massacre involved the killing of up to 30 unarmed Australian Aborigines by European settlers on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near Bingara in northern New South Wales...

. In June 1843 Dowling expressed his willingness to act as speaker of the new legislative council, but Gipps ruled against this as he considered it would not be in the public interest. In August 1844 Dowling was granted 18 months leave of absence due to a break-down in his health, but he died soon after on 27 September 1844. He was knighted in 1837. He was married twice and was survived by Lady Dowling and two sons and two daughters of the first marriage. A pension of £200 a year was granted to Lady Dowling.

At the time of his death, Dowling was preparing a volume of law reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The volume was eventually published in 2005. Many of these cases are also online.

Dowling was regarded as a hard working judge, and rarely took holidays. One of his sons, James Sheen Dowling (1819-1902), was born in England and came to Australia with his father in 1828 and later practised as a barrister.

External links

• Sir James Dowling, Kt at the Supreme Court of New South Wales