For the American politician, see Samuel Griffith (Pennsylvania politician). For the American general, see Samuel B. Griffith.
The Right Honourable
Sir Samuel Griffith
GCMG PC KC
Chief Justice of Australia
In office 5 October 1903 – 17 October 1919
Nominated by
Alfred Deakin
Appointed by
Lord Northcote
Preceded by
office established
Succeeded by
Sir Adrian Knox
Chief Justice of Queensland
In office 13 March 1893 – 4 October 1903
Nominated by
Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Preceded by
Sir Charles Lilley
Succeeded by
Pope Cooper
9th Premier of Queensland
In office 12 August 1890 – 13 March 1893
Governor
Sir Henry Norman
Preceded by
Boyd Dunlop Morehead
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas McIlwraith
In office 13 November 1883 – 13 June 1888
Governor
Sir Anthony Musgrave
Preceded by
Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Succeeded by
Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
In office 13 June 1888 – 29 April 1893
Preceded by
New seat
Succeeded by
John James Kingsbury
Constituency
Brisbane North
In office 15 November 1878 – 13 June 1888
Preceded by
New seat
Succeeded by
Abolished
Constituency
North Brisbane
In office 25 November 1873 – 14 November 1878
Preceded by
New seat
Succeeded by
Samuel Grimes
Constituency
Oxley
In office 3 April 1872 – 25 November 1873
Preceded by
Robert Travers Atkin
Succeeded by
William Fryar
Constituency
East Moreton
Personal details
Born
(1845-06-21)21 June 1845 Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales
Died
9 August 1920(1920-08-09) (aged 75) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting place
Toowong Cemetery
Political party
Independent
Spouse
Julia Thomson
(m. 1870)
Relations
Mary Harriett Griffith (sister)
Alma mater
University of Sydney
Occupation
Politician, judge
Sir Samuel Walker GriffithGCMG PC KC (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and two terms as Premier of Queensland, and played a key role in the drafting of the Australian Constitution.
Griffith was born in Wales, arriving in the Moreton Bay district of New South Wales (but now in the state of Queensland) at the age of eight. He attended the University of Sydney, and after further legal training was called to the bar in 1867. Griffith was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1872. He served as Attorney-General from 1874 to 1878, and subsequently became the leader of the parliament's liberal faction. Griffith's terms as premier ran from 1883 to 1888 and from 1890 to 1893. He led the Australian delegation to the 1887 Colonial Conference and took a keen interest in external affairs, giving financial and administrative support to the newly annexed Territory of Papua and establishing the Queensland Maritime Defence Force. Domestically, he had a reputation as a radical and was initially seen as an ally of the labour movement; this changed after his government's intervention in the 1891 shearers' strike.
In 1893, Griffith retired from politics to head the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was frequently asked to assist in drafting legislation, and the Queensland criminal code – the first in Australia – was mostly his creation. Griffith was an ardent federationist, and with Andrew Inglis Clark wrote the draft constitution that was presented to the 1891 constitutional convention. Many of his contributions were preserved in the final constitution enacted in 1900. Griffith was involved in the drafting of the federal Judiciary Act 1903, which established the High Court of Australia, and was subsequently nominated by Alfred Deakin to become the inaugural Chief Justice. He presided over a number of constitutional cases, though some of his interpretations were rejected by later courts. He was also called on to advise governors-general during political instability. Griffith University and the Canberra suburb of Griffith are named in his honour.
Andy SamuelGriffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven...
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG PC KC (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of...
Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, who was twice Premier of Queensland and the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Sir SamuelGriffith played...
The SamuelGriffith Society is an Australian conservative legal organisation founded in 1992 by a group led by former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry...
division is named after Sir SamuelGriffith, former politician and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia. Griffith was created in 1934, replacing...
the debates he assisted (Sir) SamuelGriffith, (Sir) Edmund Barton and Charles Cameron Kingston in revising Griffith's original draft of the adopted constitution...
such as the opening of Parliament after an election. Chief Justice SamuelGriffith was several times consulted by governors-general on the exercise of...
erstwhile foe to become Treasurer in the government of Sir SamuelGriffith. In March 1893 Griffith stepped down to join the Supreme Court of Queensland and...
(1911–1993), associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court SamuelGriffith (1845–1920), chief justice of the High Court of Australia Thomas Griffitts...
Chief Justice of South Australia, Sir Samuel Way, and SamuelGriffith, among others. In October 1899, Griffith made representations to Chamberlain soliciting...
Attorney General Griffith may refer to: SamuelGriffith (1845–1920), Attorney-General of Queensland William Brandford Griffith (judge) (1858–1939), Attorney...
1988, serving until his elevation to the High Court in 1998. He and SamuelGriffith (appointed 1903) are the only people to have been elevated directly...
somewhat unexpectedly nominated by Billy Hughes to succeed the retiring SamuelGriffith as Chief Justice. The most famous decision of his tenure was the Engineers...
activities of the German and French in New Guinea and in New Hebrides. Sir SamuelGriffith, the Premier of Queensland, drafted a bill to constitute the Federal...
Initially, there were three justices of the High Court – Chief Justice Sir SamuelGriffith, Justice Sir Edmund Barton and Justice Richard Edward O'Connor. The...
party's top political and societal challenges. In a speech given to the SamuelGriffith Society in 2017, Wolahan expressed his opposition to a constitutionally...
Autumn period (c. 722–481 BC). A second view, held by scholars such as SamuelGriffith, places The Art of War during the middle to late Warring States period...
1879 13 November 1883 4 years, 296 days Conservative Mulgrave 9 Sir SamuelGriffith, KCMG, QC 1883 13 November 1883 13 June 1888 4 years, 213 days Liberal...
shareholder's legal right to a dividend, Australian chief justice SamuelGriffith observed that: The law does not require the members of a company to...
lost office in 1883 it was succeeded by the Liberal government of SamuelGriffith that sought to end the trade in Kanakas. As a prominent businessman...
The First Griffith Ministry was a ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier SamuelGriffith. It succeeded the First McIlwraith Ministry...
Anderson Dawson accepted to form a ministry by Lieutenant-Governor SamuelGriffith. Trade unionists in Queensland had begun attempting to secure parliamentary...
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