View source for Samuel Griffith

{{Short description|Australian judge and politician (1845–1920)}}
{{for-multi|the American politician|Samuel Griffith (Pennsylvania politician)|the American general|Samuel B. Griffith}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]] Sir
| name                = Samuel Griffith
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|GCMG|PC|KC|size=100}}
| image               = Sir Samuel Walker Griffith.jpg
| office              = [[Chief Justice of Australia]]
| term_start          = 5 October 1903
| term_end            = 17 October 1919
| predecessor         = ''office established''
| successor           = [[Sir Adrian Knox]]
| appointer           = [[Lord Northcote]]
| nominator           = [[Alfred Deakin]]
| office2             = [[Chief Justice of Queensland]]
| term_start2         = 13 March 1893
| term_end2           = 4 October 1903
| nominator2          = [[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]]
| predecessor2        = [[Charles Lilley|Sir Charles Lilley]]
| successor2          = [[Pope Cooper]]
| office3             = 9th [[Premier of Queensland]]
| term_start3         = 12 August 1890
| term_end3           = 13 March 1893
| predecessor3        = [[Boyd Dunlop Morehead]]
| successor3          = [[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]]
| governor3           = [[Henry Wylie Norman|Sir Henry Norman]]
| term_start4         = 13 November 1883
| term_end4           = 13 June 1888
| predecessor4        = [[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]]
| successor4          = [[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]]
| governor4           = [[Sir Anthony Musgrave]]
| office5             = Member of the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]]
| constituency5       = [[Electoral district of Brisbane North|Brisbane North]]
| term_start5         = 13 June 1888
| term_end5           = 29 April 1893
| predecessor5        = New seat
| successor5          = [[John James Kingsbury]]
| constituency6       = [[Electoral district of North Brisbane|North Brisbane]]
| term_start6         = 15 November 1878
| term_end6           = 13 June 1888
| predecessor6        = New seat
| successor6          = Abolished
| constituency7       = [[Electoral district of Oxley (Queensland)|Oxley]]
| term_start7         = 25 November 1873
| term_end7           = 14 November 1878
| predecessor7        = New seat
| successor7          = [[Samuel Grimes]]
| constituency8       = [[Electoral district of East Moreton (Queensland)|East Moreton]]
| term_start8         = 3 April 1872
| term_end8           = 25 November 1873
| predecessor8        = [[Robert Travers Atkin]]
| successor8          = [[William Fryar]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1845|6|21|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Merthyr Tydfil]], [[Glamorgan]], Wales
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1920|8|9|1845|6|21|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Brisbane]], Queensland, Australia
| restingplace        = [[Toowong Cemetery]]
| party               = Independent
| spouse              = {{Marriage|Julia Thomson|1870}}
| relations           = [[Mary Harriett Griffith]] (sister)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Sydney]]
| occupation          = Politician, judge
}}

'''Sir Samuel Walker Griffith''' (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 of Queensland|Attorney-General]] from 1874 to 1878, and subsequently became the leader of the parliament's [[Liberalism in Australia|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 [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] and was initially seen as an ally of the [[Australian labour movement|labour movement]]; this changed after his government's intervention in the [[1891 Australian shearers' strike|1891 shearers' strike]].

In 1899, 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 [[Federation of Australia|federationist]], and with [[Andrew Inglis Clark]] wrote the draft constitution that was presented to the 1891 [[Constitutional Convention (Australia)|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, although some of his interpretations were rejected by later courts. He was also called on to advise [[Governor-General of Australia|governors-general]] during political instability. [[Griffith University]] and the Canberra suburb of [[Griffith, Australian Capital Territory|Griffith]] are named in his honour.

==Early life==
Griffith was born in [[Merthyr Tydfil]], Wales, the younger son of the Rev. [[Edward Griffith (Congregational minister)|Edward Griffith]], a [[Congregational]] minister and his wife, Mary, second daughter of Peter Walker.<ref name=ADB/> His sister was the philanthropist [[Mary Harriett Griffith]]. Although of Welsh extraction, his forebears for at least three generations had lived in England. The family migrated to the Moreton Bay district of [[New South Wales]] (now the state of [[Queensland]])<ref name=Mennell>{{cite Australasia|Griffith, Hon. Sir Samuel Walker}}</ref> when Samuel was eight. He was educated at schools in [[Ipswich, Queensland|Ipswich]], where his father was minister from 1854 to 1856, and [[Sydney]], and later at [[William McIntyre (minister)|William McIntyre's]] school in [[Maitland, New South Wales|Maitland]], where he earned the nickname "Oily Sam" for his "ability to argue on any side of any subject".<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Joyce |first=R. B. |title=Griffith, Sir Samuel Walker (1845–1920) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/griffith-sir-samuel-walker-445 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=14 June 2023 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Samuel Griffith GCMG QC |url=https://www.sclqld.org.au/judicial-papers/judicial-profiles/profiles/swgriffith |access-date=14 June 2023 |website=Supreme Court Library Queensland}}</ref> He continued his studies at the [[University of Sydney]], where he graduated [[Bachelor of Arts]] in 1863, with first-class honours in classics, mathematics and natural science.<ref name=ADB/> During his course he was awarded the Cooper and Barker scholarships and other prizes.

In 1865, he gained the [[T. S. Mort]] Travelling Fellowship. Travelling to Europe, he spent some of his time in Italy, and became much attached to the Italian people and their literature. Many years after, he was to become the first Australian translator of [[Dante]] (''The Inferno of Dante Alighieri'' in 1908).<ref name=ADB/>

On his return to Brisbane, Griffith studied law and was articled to [[Arthur Macalister]], in one of whose ministries Griffith afterwards had his first portfolio. Griffith was [[called to the bar]] in 1867.<ref name=ADB/>

In 1870, Griffith returned to Sydney to complete a [[Master of Arts]].<ref name=ADB/> In the same year, he married Julia Janet Thomson.<ref name=ADB/>

==Political career==
In 1872 Griffith was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Queensland]],<ref name="stories">
{{cite book |title=Stories of the Southside |last=Roberts |first=Beryl |year=1991 |publisher=Aussie Books|location=Archerfield, Queensland|isbn=0-947336-01-X |pages=6 }}</ref> for [[Electoral district of East Moreton (Queensland)|East Moreton]].<ref name=Mennell/> Throughout his career he saw himself as a lawyer first and a politician second, and continued to appear at the Bar even when he was in office. Griffith took silk in 1876 as a [[Queen's Counsel]].<ref name=ADB>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=R. B. |last=Joyce|title=Griffith, Sir Samuel Walker (1845–1920)|id2=griffith-sir-samuel-walker-445|access-date=13 December 2013}}</ref> In Parliament he gained a reputation as a liberal reformer. He was [[Attorney-General of Queensland|Attorney-General]], Minister for Education and Minister for Works, and became leader of the [[Queensland Liberal Association|liberal faction]] (unrelated to the modern day [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]]) in 1879. His great enemy was the conservative leader [[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]], whom he accused (correctly) of corruption.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Griffith had had a distinguished career in Queensland politics. Included in the legislation for which he was responsible were an offenders' probation act, and an act which codified the law relating to the duties and powers of justices of the peace. He also succeeded in passing an eight hours bill through the assembly which was, however, thrown out by the [[Queensland Legislative Council]].<ref name=Mennell/>

Griffith became Premier in November 1883<ref name=ADB/> displacing McIlwraith. Griffith's election as Premier was assisted by auditor-general [[William Leworthy Goode Drew]]'s report on the colony's loans having reached over £13 million.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=Robert I. |last=Longhurst|title=Drew, William Leworthy (1826–1898)|id2=drew-william-leworthy-12894|access-date=13 December 2013}}</ref> Griffith won the next election largely on his policy of preventing the importation of [[Polynesia|Kanaka]] labour from the islands. He passed an act for this purpose,<ref name="stories" /> but it was found that the danger of the destruction of the sugar industry was so great that the measure was never made operative. Recruiting was, however, placed under regulations and some of the worst abuses were swept away. Griffith took a special interest in [[British New Guinea]], and was eventually responsible for the sending of [[Sir William MacGregor]] there in 1888.<ref name=ADB/>
[[File:SGriff1.jpg|thumb|left|Griffith as premier]]
Griffith held the office of premier until 1888, and was made a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in 1886, before receiving an advancement to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1895.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hcourt.gov.au/artworks/portraits-of-chief-justices/sir-samuel-griffith |title=Portraits of Chief Justices and the first bench |work=[[High Court of Australia]] |access-date=4 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626213414/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/artworks/portraits-of-chief-justices/sir-samuel-griffith |archive-date=26 June 2017 }}</ref> Griffith was regarded as a close ally of the labour movement. He introduced a bill to legalise trade unions, and declared that "the great problem of this age is not how to accumulate wealth but how to secure its more equitable distribution". In 1888 his government was defeated. In opposition he wrote radical articles for ''[[The Boomerang]]'', [[William Lane]]'s socialist newspaper.<ref name=ADB/>

But in 1890 Griffith suddenly betrayed his radical friends and became Premier again at the head of an unlikely alliance with McIlwraith, the so-called "[[Continuous Ministry (Queensland)|Griffilwraith]]". The following year his government took an active role in arresting and prosecuting leaders of the [[1891 Australian shearers' strike|1891 shearers' strike]], with Griffith personally praising this decision.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Joyce |first=R.B. |title=Queensland Political Portraits 1859-1952 |publisher=[[University of Queensland Press]] |year=1978 |isbn=9780702211270 |editor-last=Murphy |editor-first=D.J. |location=St. Lucia, Queensland |page=173 |chapter=Samuel Walker Griffith |editor-last2=Joyce |editor-first2=R.B.}}</ref> Consequently, William Lane declared Griffith a "fraud" in his 1892 novel ''The Workingman's Paradise''.<ref name=":1" />

==Chief Justice of Queensland==
On 13 March 1893, the Governor accepted Griffith's resignation from Vice-President and Member of the Executive Council and Chief Secretary and Attorney General and appointed Griffith to Chief Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Queensland]] where he served until 4 October 1903.<ref>Queensland Government Gazette Extraordinary Vol. LVIII No.63 Monday 13 March 1893 p777</ref> In consequence he could not be a delegate to the Federal Australasian Convention of 1897–8 which produced, in near final form, the Constitution of Australia, but he acted as a behind-the-scenes advisor to [[Sir Robert Garran]], secretary of the Drafting Committee, which followed the structure he had laid out in 1891. In 1899 he campaigned publicly for a 'yes' vote in the federation referendum in Queensland.<ref name=ADB/> In May 1900 he authored the very last amendment to the Constitution in the face of a standoff between the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain and Edmund Barton over the right to appeal judgements of the High Court of Australia to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Whereas Chamberlain wished the Constitution to give more space to such appeals, Barton, with Charles Kingston and Alfred Deakin, wanted them left restricted. Griffith privately damned the behaviour of Barton and Kingston as "monstrous", and formulated the compromise wording which appears in Section 74, and which appeased the involved parties.<ref>William Coleman,''Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914'', Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p.250.</ref>

During his term as Chief Justice Griffith drafted [[Queensland]]'s Criminal Code,<ref name=EB1922>{{cite EB1922|wstitle=Griffith, Sir Samuel Walker|volume=31|page=321}}</ref> a successful codification of the entire English criminal law, which was adopted in 1899, and later in [[Western Australia]], [[Papua New Guinea]], substantially in [[Tasmania]], and other imperial territories including [[Nigeria]].<ref>Bruce McPherson, ''Supreme Court of Queensland'', Butterworths, 1984</ref>

==Chief Justice of Australia==
[[File:Samuel Griffith portrait.jpg|thumb|right|Griffith later in life]]
When the federal parliament passed the ''[[Judiciary Act 1903]]'', which created the [[High Court of Australia]], Griffith was the natural choice as the first Chief Justice. Griffith's appointment as one of the first three judges of the High Court was approved by the Governor-General on 5 October 1903.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-21-aid-2-pid-31.html |title=Documenting a Democracy Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) |work=Museum of Australian Democracy |access-date=4 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000214/https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-21-aid-2-pid-31.html |archive-date=5 October 2017 }}</ref> During his sixteen years on the bench Griffith sat on some 950 reported cases. In 1913 he visited England and sat on the Privy Council. Like [[Sir Edmund Barton]], Griffith was several times consulted by Governors-General of Australia on the exercise of the [[reserve powers]].<ref>[[Donald Markwell]], "Griffith, Barton and the early governor-generals: aspects of Australia's constitutional development", ''Public Law Review'', 1999.</ref>

Griffith was the first of two justices of the High Court of Australia to have previously served in the [[Parliament of Queensland]], along with [[Charles Powers]]. He was also one of five justices to have previously served on the [[Supreme Court of Queensland]], along with [[William Webb (judge)|William Webb]], [[Harry Gibbs]], [[Susan Kiefel]] and [[Patrick Keane]]. After 1910 Griffith's health declined, and in 1917 he suffered a stroke. He published a translation of [[Dante Alighieri|Dante's]] ''[[Divina Commedia]]'' in 1912.<ref name=EB1922/>

===Royal Commissions===
In January 1918, Griffith was appointed by Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]] as head of a [[Royal Commission]] into the recruitment levels needed to maintain the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]]'s fighting strength overseas. This came only a month after [[1917 Australian conscription referendum|a second referendum on overseas conscription]] had returned a vote in the negative. Griffith was given such narrow terms of reference that his report took only a single week, and was effectively little more than a mathematical problem relating to the "existing size of the AIF, likely future losses of men, the numbers required to replace them, and so on". After the report was released, Hughes used it as vindication of his statements during the referendum debate.<ref name=wheeler>{{cite news|url=http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/lecture-series/Anomalous_Occurrences_in_Unusual_Circumstances_HC_Public_Lecture.pdf|title='Anomalous Occurrences in Unusual Circumstances'? Towards a History of Extra-Judicial Activity by High Court Justices|author=Fiona Wheler|publisher=High Court of Australia Public Lectures|date=30 November 2011|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-date=18 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418012934/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/lecture-series/Anomalous_Occurrences_in_Unusual_Circumstances_HC_Public_Lecture.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Later writers have seen Griffith's involvement in the Royal Commission as inadvisable, as the findings were able to be used for political purposes and thus could be seen to have breached the [[Separation of powers in Australia|separation of powers]]. It is the most recent occasion on which a sitting High Court judge has chaired a Royal Commission; Griffith had also authorised the first, which was conducted by [[George Rich]] in 1915 and also concerned military issues. However, in July 1918 he rejected another request from Hughes for a High Court judge to conduct a Royal Commission, on the grounds that it would "associate the High Court with political action".<ref name=wheeler/>

==Retirement and death==
[[File:Samuelgriffithheadstone.JPG|thumb|250px|Headstone of Sir Samuel Griffith at Brisbane's [[Toowong Cemetery]].]]
Griffith retired from the Court in 1919 and died at his home in Brisbane on 9 August 1920.<ref name=ADB/> He is buried in [[Toowong Cemetery]], Brisbane,<ref name=ADB/> together with his wife, Julia, and their son, Llewellyn. Cemetery records indicate that their plot adjoins that of Griffith's dear friend [[Charles Mein]] (1841–1890) (barrister, politician and judge), the pair having met during their undergraduate studies at the [[University of Sydney]].<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Carter, M. |first=Morrison, A. A. |title=Mein, Charles Stuart (1841–1890) |id2=mein-charles-stuart-4182 |access-date=4 October 2017}}</ref>

==Honours==
Griffith is commemorated by the naming of [[Griffith University]], with campuses throughout [[South East Queensland]], the suburb of [[Griffith, Australian Capital Territory|Griffith]] in [[Canberra]], the federal electoral [[division of Griffith]], Sir Samuel Griffith Drive on [[Mount Coot-tha]] in [[Brisbane]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50103131 |title=Drive renamed. |newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]] |location=Brisbane |date=5 January 1951 |access-date=5 March 2011 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811080000/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50103131 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the S.W. Griffith building of [[Brisbane Grammar School]], which was the former Mathematics building and is now part of the Harlin House boarding precinct. The [[Samuel Griffith Society]] is a [[conservative]] organisation dedicated to defending what it sees as the principles of the Constitution – particularly, the principle of [[states' rights]]. His portrait, by [[Richard Godfrey Rivers]], hangs in the Brisbane Supreme Court. Griffith was appointed a vice-president of the [[Royal Colonial Institute]] in 1909 and an honorary fellow of the [[British Academy]] in 1916.<ref name=ADB/>

In July 2016 Griffith was inducted in to the City of Maitland Hall of Fame.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Although demolished in 1963, his home ''Merthyr'', named after his birthplace, gives its name to the neighbourhood of [[Merthyr, Queensland|Merthyr]] in [[New Farm]]. Griffith Street and Merthyr Road in New Farm are also named after the man and his house.<ref name="ybpp">{{cite web|url=http://www.yourbrisbanepastandpresent.com/2012/10/santa-barbara-new-farm.html|title=Santa Barbara, New Farm|website=Your Brisbane: Past and Present|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224222426/http://www.yourbrisbanepastandpresent.com/2012/10/santa-barbara-new-farm.html|archive-date=24 February 2018|url-status=live|access-date=25 February 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Judges of the High Court of Australia]]
* [[List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Samuel Walker|Last=Griffith|Link=http://www.gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogG.html#griffith1|access-date=28 December 2008}}
* Joyce, Roger B: ''Samuel Walker Griffith'', St Lucia (University of Queensland Press), 1984.
* Joyce R.B. & Murphy, D.J.(Ed.): Queensland Political Portraits, St Lucia (University of Queensland Press), 1978.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Samuel Griffith}}
* [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/ Queensland Criminal Code]
* [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia//constitutions/austconstindex.shtml The Australian Constitution]
* [http://www.gu.edu.au/ Griffith University, Brisbane]
* [http://www.samuelgriffith.org.au/ Samuel Griffith Society]
*[https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=139567 Griffith, Samuel Walker] — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search

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{{succession box | title=[[Premier of Queensland]]| before=[[Sir Thomas McIlwraith]] | after=Sir Thomas McIlwraith | years=1883–1888}}
{{succession box | title=Premier of Queensland| before=[[Boyd Dunlop Morehead]] | after=Sir Thomas McIlwraith | years=1890–1893}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Travers Atkin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of East Moreton (Queensland)|East Moreton]]|years=1872–1873|alongside=[[William Hemmant]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of Oxley (Queensland)|Oxley]]|years=1873–1878}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Samuel Grimes]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of North Brisbane|North Brisbane]]|years=1878–1888|alongside=[[Arthur Hunter Palmer|Arthur Palmer]], [[William Brookes (Queensland politician)|William Brookes]]}}
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{{s-new|seat}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of Brisbane North|Brisbane North]]|years=1888–1893|alongside=[[Thomas McIlwraith]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John James Kingsbury]]}}
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{{s-ttl | title=[[Chief Justice of Australia]]| | years=1903–1919}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir Adrian Knox]] }}
{{succession box | title=[[Chief Justice of Queensland]] | before=[[Charles Lilley]] | after= [[Pope Alexander Cooper]] | years=1893–1903}}
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{{Premiers of Queensland}}
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