Humphrey O'Leary
| The Right Honourable Sir Humphrey O'Leary KCMG KC |
|
|---|---|
| 7th Chief Justice of New Zealand | |
| In office 12 August 1946 – 16 October 1953 |
|
| Nominated by | Peter Fraser |
| Appointed by | Lord Freyberg |
| Preceded by | Michael Myers |
| Succeeded by | Harold Barrowclough |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Humphrey Francis O'Leary 12 February 1886 Blenheim, New Zealand |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Auckland, New Zealand |
Sir Humphrey Francis O'Leary KCMG KC (12 February 1886 – 16 October 1953) was the seventh Chief Justice of New Zealand, from 1946 to 1953.
Early life and family
Born in Redwoodtown in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough, in 1886, his father, an Irish immigrant, was a blacksmith who had migrated to Masterton. When his father heard that one of his sons was not doing well at the local Catholic school, he sent his son to Masterton Public. From that time, although he remained faithful to the Catholic religion, Humphrey O'Leary attended state schools. He gained a Wellington Education Board scholarship and Queen's Scholarship in 1899, which enabled him to attend Wellington College. There his academic ability, outgoing personality and sporting prowess made him a popular student. The Queen's Scholarship also paid for three years at university and he enrolled in 1902 to study law at Victoria College.[1]
Law career
Humphrey O'Leary was awarded an LLB degree in 1908, and from 1908 to 1909 he was a New Zealand University rugby representative. He first worked for Wilford and Levi, a law firm, then went into partnership with a university friend Frank Kelly as O'Leary and Kelly. In 1919 he was invited to join the Wellington legal firm that would become known as Bell Gully.
O'Leary was President of the Wellington Law Society 1921-22, and the New Zealand Law Society 1935-46, and on the Victoria University College Council and the University of New Zealand Senate.
He was the Chief Justice of New Zealand from 1946 to his death in 1953.
Honours
He was made a King's Counsel in 1935, a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1947 New Year Honours,[2] and Honourable Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple, London in 1948.
Family
O'Leary married Lillian Gallagher in 1912. They had one son.
Death
Sir Humphrey O'Leary died in Auckland in 1953, aged 67.
Notes
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 37836. p. 31. 1 January 1947. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
References
- The Story of Bell Gully Buddle Weir by Julia Millen (1990, Bell Gully) ISBN 1-86934-026-4
- Use dmy dates from April 2016
- Use New Zealand English from April 2016
- All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English
- 1886 births
- 1953 deaths
- Chief Justices of New Zealand
- New Zealand Roman Catholics
- People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand)
- High Court of New Zealand judges
- Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- New Zealand knights
- New Zealand lawyers
- New Zealand people of Irish descent
- People from Auckland
- People from Blenheim, New Zealand
- Victoria University of Wellington alumni
- New Zealand Queen's Counsel
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
