Everything about John Latham Jurist totally explained
Sir John Latham KBE (
26 August 1877 –
25 July 1964),
Australian
judge and politician, was the fifth
Chief Justice of the
High Court of Australia. He held this position for 17 years, between
1935 and
1952.
Latham was born in
Ascot Vale, a suburb of
Melbourne, Australia. His father was a prominent citizen, whose achievements as Secretary for the Society for the Protection of Animals were deeply respected. John Latham won a scholarship and became a successful student at Scotch College and the
University of Melbourne, studying logic, philosophy and law. At one point, he was the recipient of the Supreme Court Judges' Prize. In November
1902, Latham became the first secretary of the
Boobook Society (named for the
Southern Boobook owl), a group of
Melbourne academics and professionals which still meets.
During
World War I, he was an Intelligence officer in the
Royal Australian Navy, holding the rank of
lieutenant commander. He was the head of Naval Intelligence from
1917, and was part of the Australian delegation to the Imperial Conference and then
Versailles Peace Conference. He grew to dislike
William Morris Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister.
Latham had a distinguished legal career. He was admitted to the
Victorian Bar in
1904, and was made a
King's Counsel in
1922. In
1920, Latham appeared before the High Court representing the
State of Victoria in the famous
Engineers' case, alongside such people as
Dr H.V. Evatt and
Robert Menzies.
In
1922, Latham was elected to the
Australian House of Representatives as an independent, running on a campaign of 'Get Rid of Hughes'. Although his philosophy was close to Hughes' Nationalist Party, Latham's experience of Hughes in Europe ensured that he wouldn't serve under him in a Parliament. He won the
Victorian seat of
Kooyong. On Hughes' removal, he subsequently joined the Nationalist Party and from
1925 to
1929, he served as the Commonwealth
Attorney-General in the
Nationalist government under
Stanley Bruce and
Earle Page. After Bruce lost his Parliamentary seat in 1929, Latham served as leader of the Nationalist Party. After
Joseph Lyons led defectors from the
Labor Party across the floor, Latham resigned as Opposition Leader in favour of Lyons. In
1931 he was appointed Attorney-General again, this time in the
United Australia Party government of Lyons. At the same time, he was also the Minister for External Affairs and (unofficially) the Deputy Prime Minister. Latham held these positions until
1934, when he retired from the
Commonwealth Parliament.
Latham was appointed Chief Justice of the
High Court of Australia on
11 October 1935. From
1940 to
1941, he took leave from the Court and travelled to
Tokyo to serve as Australia's first Minister to Japan. He retired from the High Court in April
1952.
He died in 1962 in the Melbourne suburb of
Richmond. Latham was a prominent Rationalist, after abandoning his parent's Methodism at university. He was also a prominent campaigner for Australian literature, being part of the editorial board of The Trident, a small liberal journal, which was edited by
Walter Murdoch. The board also included poet
Bernard O'Dowd. Latham had three children, two of whom predeceased him. His wife, Ella, also predeceased him.
Mark Latham, Labor leader at the
2004 election bears no relation to John Latham.
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