Alfred North (jurist)

Sir Alfred Kingsley North KBE PC QC (17 December 1900 – 22 June 1981), also known as Alf North, was a New Zealand lawyer and judge. He was President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand from 1963 until his retirement in 1972.

The Right Honourable
Sir Alfred North
KBE QC
North as a young man
President of the Court of Appeal
In office
1963–1972
Preceded byKenneth Gresson
Succeeded byAlexander Turner
Personal details
Born
Alfred Kingsley North

(1900-12-17)17 December 1900
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died22 June 1981(1981-06-22) (aged 80)
Auckland, New Zealand
Parent

Biography

North was born in Christchurch in 1900, the son of Baptist minister John North.[1][2] As a teenager, North contracted polio and had a limp for the rest of his life.[3] He received his education at West Christchurch District High School, Christchurch Boys' High School, and then attended Canterbury University College, graduating LLM in 1927.[1][4]

He first practiced in Ashburton from 1921. After obtaining his Master of Laws, he was in partnership in Hāwera. From 1935, he was a barrister and a partner in the legal firm Earl, Kent, Stanton, Massey, North and Palmer in Auckland, replacing Erima Northcroft who had been appointed judge.[3][5] In 1951, North was appointed judge of the Supreme Court.[1] When the Court of Appeal was reconstituted in Wellington in 1957, North was one of its founding members and relocated to the capital city, where he lived in Wadestown.[3][6] North was the president of the Court of Appeal from 1963 to 1972.[3]

Between 1976 and 1978, North conducted a commission of inquiry into an alleged breach of confidentiality of the police file on Colin Moyle.[7][8]

For the respective Auckland branches, North was president for Rotary and chairman of the New Zealand Crippled Children's Society.[9]

Family

On 31 December 1924, North married Thelma Areta Dawson (1902–1991) at Oxford Terrace Baptist Church in Christchurch, with his father officiating the ceremony.[10] North died on 22 June 1981 in Auckland.[3][11] His wife survived him by ten years. Both were cremated at Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium.[12][13]

Honours

Alongside Ossie Mazengarb, North was appointed King's Counsel on 18 April 1947.[14][5][15] He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours.[16] In the 1964 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[17] He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1966.[18]

See also

References
  1. Traue, James Edward (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed Publishing. p. 209.
  2. MacLeod, Angus. "John James North". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. "Four different directions in the law". New Zealand Law Society. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Mu–O". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  5. "Two appointments to King's Counsel". The Northern Advocate. 19 April 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. Petersen, George Conrad (1964). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1964 (8th ed.). Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 223.
  7. "Commissions of inquiry". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  8. "Strains and tensions in the NZ Opposition". The Canberra Times. 3 January 1977. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  9. Scholefield, Guy (1951). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1951 (5th ed.). Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 174.
  10. "Late social news". The Star. No. 17425. 31 December 1924. p. 7. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. Lambert, Max (1991). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1991 (12th ed.). Auckland: Octopus. p. 727. ISBN 9780790001302.
  12. "Burial & Cremation Details". Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  13. "Burial & Cremation Details". Purewa Cemetery and Crematorium. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  14. "King's Counsel". Otago Daily Times. No. 26440. 19 April 1947. p. 6. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  15. "Queen's Counsel appointments since 1907 as at July 2014" (PDF). Crown Law Office. July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  16. "No. 41729". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 13 June 1959. p. 3739.
  17. "No. 43202". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 1 January 1964. p. 40.
  18. "Privy Counsellors 1915–1968". 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.