William Charles Windeyer
Encyclopedia
As a 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...
politician he was responsible for the creation of Belmore Park (north of the new Central railway
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
constructed in 1874 in Haymarket
Haymarket, New South Wales
Haymarket is a locality of Sydney's city centre, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney....
), Lang Park (in Church Hill, between York, Lang and Grosvenor Streets in the city), Observatory Park (on Flagstaff Hill in the west Rocks
The Rocks, New South Wales
The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...
) and Cromwell Park at the head of Long Bay, Malabar
Malabar, New South Wales
Malabar is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Malabar is located 12 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick.-Location:...
and parks on Clark
Clark Island (New South Wales)
Clark Island is an island in Sydney Harbour, Australia. It lies offshore of the Sydney suburb of Darling Point, in the eastern section of the harbour between the Harbour Bridge and the harbour entrance. It is 0.9 hectares in area....
, Rodd, and Snapper Islands. He was also the author of the New South Wales Patents Act and the Married Women's Property Act of 1879.
As a judge he was able, conscientious and hard-working, and had much knowledge of law. He had the misfortune to preside over two notorious cases, the Mount Rennie rape case
Mount Rennie rape case
The Mount Rennie rape case is the only gang rape in Sydney during the 1880s that led to a full conviction of the participants involved in the crime. The attack is sometimes referred to as the "Mount Rennie Outrage"...
and the Dean
George Dean (poisoner)
George Dean was a ferry-boat master in Sydney, Australia, who was charged with attempting to poisoning his wife. A large part of the Sydney public came to believe that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her mother had conspired against him...
trials, which caused much popular feeling, and gave him the reputation in some quarters of being a "hanging" judge. His friends agreed that this estimate was far from his character, and that though he had a brusque exterior he was really a man of noble qualities. This estimate is in conformity with the fact that he was appointed president of the charities commission in 1873, and that he was responsible for the founding of the Discharged Prisoners Aid Society in 1874. An example of his courage and common sense is his judgment on the case dealing with the proceedings arising out of Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
's pamphlet, The Law of Population, which was published separately in 1889 under the title, Ex Parte Collins.
Early life
Windeyer was the only child of Richard WindeyerRichard Windeyer
Richard Windeyer was a journalist, barrister and Australian politician.-Early life:Richard Windeyer was born in London, the eldest of nine children...
and his wife, Maria Camfield; and 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...
. The family left London on the Medway arriving in 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...
on 28 November 1835. Windeyer the younger was 13 years of age when his father died. His mother, a woman of much character, was left practically without means, but with some help from friends managed to buy part of her husband's estate on the Hunter River
Hunter River
The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
, worked it, and made a success of wine growing.
Windeyer was educated at first at W. T. Cape's
William Timothy Cape
William Timothy Cape was an early school master in Sydney, Australia; several of the Premiers of New South Wales attended his school....
school, and then at The King's School
The King's School, Sydney
The King's School is an independent Anglican, day and boarding school for boys in North Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest school and forms one of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales. Situated within a site, Gowan Brae,...
, Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
. He was one of the first group to matriculate at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
at the end of 1852, and during his course won a classical scholarship, and the prize for the English essay in each year. He graduated B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1856, M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1859, and was called to the bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
in March 1857. He was law reporter for the Empire and then for a short time crown prosecutor in country districts. He married in 1857 Mary Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. R. T. Bolton, who survived him with sons and daughters. Lady Windeyer took much interest in educational and social questions, particularly in regard to women, and was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement.
Political career
In 1859 Windeyer stood for the New South Wales Legislative AssemblyNew South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
seat of Paddington and was defeated by 47 votes. He was, however, returned for the Lower Hunter
Electoral district of Lower Hunter
Lower Hunter was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1859 to 1880.-Members for Lower Hunter:...
at the same election. In 1860 he was returned for West Sydney
Electoral district of West Sydney
West Sydney was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian State of New South Wales created in 1859 from part of the electoral district of Sydney, covering the western part of the current Sydney central business district, Ultimo and Pyrmont, bordered by George Street,...
, but afterwards resigned his seat on account of ill-health following the wrecking of the City of Sydney on which he was returning from 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 after winning a rifle match. In 1866 he was again elected for West Sydney defeating Sir John Robertson.
On 16 December 1870 Windeyer became solicitor-general in the third Martin
James Martin (Australian politician)
Sir James Martin, KCB, QC was three times Premier of New South Wales, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1873 to 1886.-Early career:...
ministry and held this position until 13 May 1872, but was defeated at the election held in this year. In 1876 he was returned for the University of Sydney
Electoral district of University of Sydney
University of Sydney was a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1876 to 1880. It was established in the 1858 redistribution to be elected by graduates of the University of Sydney once there were 100 eligible electors...
(beating Edmund Barton
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
49 votes to 43), and from 22 March to 16 August 1877 was Attorney-General in the second Parkes
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...
ministry. In 1878 he obtained the assent of the house to the establishment of grammar schools at Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, Goulburn
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
and Maitland
Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...
with exhibitions to enable students to proceed to the university. He was Attorney-General of New South Wales in the third Parkes ministry from 21 December 1878 to 10 August 1879.
Judge and educationalist
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...
in August 1879. In August 1881 he became a puisne judge of the supreme court, and held this position for almost 15 years. He believed strongly in the enforement of the criminal law, particularly where the victims were women. In the Mount Rennie rape case, he sentenced nine young men to death for pack rape, and four were in fact hanged in 1887. In 1895 Windeyer caused controversy by imposing the death penalty on George Dean for attempting to poisoning his wife. There was a strong belief that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her mother (who was a woman of ill repute) had conspired against him. Although, Dean was very likely guilty, his death sentence was commuted and he was later released on a free pardon. He was subsequently convicted of perjury and spent nine years in jail. Windeyer resigned on 31 August 1896, prior to his trip to Europe.
Windeyer took much interest in education, was a trustee of the Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, president of the Sydney mechanics' school of arts, and a trustee of the public library. He was Vice-Chancellor of the university from 1883 to 1887 and Chancellor from 1895 to 1896. He was also first chairman of the council of the women's college at the university.
On his way to Europe Windeyer accepted a temporary judicial appointment in Newfoundland, but died suddenly while at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Of Windeyer's sons, John Cadell Windeyer, who was born in 1875 had a distinguished career as a physician and became professor of obstetrics at the university of Sydney in 1925; Richard Windeyer, born in 1868, followed his father's profession, became a KC and for a time was an acting-judge of the supreme court of New South Wales; William Archibald Windeyer, born in 1871, was also well known in Sydney as a solicitor and public man. His daughter Margaret
Margaret Windeyer
Margaret Windeyer was an Australian librarian and women's rights campaigner. She was daughter of judge and politician William Charles Windeyer and suffragist Mary Elizabeth Windeyer. She was featured on an Australian stamp in 1996 as part of the National Council of Women centenary.- References :...
was a librarian and women's rights campaigner.
Honours
He was given the honorary degree of LL.D. by the University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, and was knighted in 1891.