The Victorian Bar's Arts and Collections committee oversees the commission of portraits of the Bar's illuminaries past and present as well as the maintenance, cataloguing and display of the Bar's art collection and artefacts. The Bar's portrait collection is located in the Peter O'Callaghan QC Gallery in the foyer of the Owen Dixon Chambers East and West.
Sir Douglas Little
Sir Douglas Macfarlan Little was born in Warrnambool in 1904. He was educated at Scotch College Melbourne and Ormond College within the University of Melbourne where he was admitted to the degree of M.A. and L.L.M. Following his admission to practice, Sir Little signed the Bar Roll on 14 June 1930 and established a large general practice in Common Law Jurisdiction. He took silk on 30 November 1954.
During World War II, he served in the R.A.A.F and rose to the rank of Wing Commander. On 3 February 1959, Sir Douglas was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Sir Douglas passed away in 1990.
Artist – Paul Fitzgerald AM
(1922 - 2017)
Born in 1922 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Paul Fitzgerald studied at the National Gallery School in the periods 1940-43 and 1946-47. His studies were interrupted for service in the Army during World War II.
Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Archibald on many occasions with portraits of Justice Monahan, Sir Reg Ansett, Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Menzies.
Fitzgerald founded the Australian Guild of Realist Artists.
The Honourable Sir Oliver Gillard
The Honourable Sir Oliver Gillard was born in 1906 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. In 1927 he graduated from a Bachelor of Arts and in 1928 he graduated from a Bachelor of Law. Sir Oliver Gillard was a leading Barrister and King’s Council before his appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1962.
Sir Oliver served as Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria from 1965 to 1968. He was also appointed as Chancellor of Melbourne University, a position of great honour. Sir Oliver was knighted in 1974 for services to the legal profession and as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Outside of his role with the judiciary, Sir Oliver was most involved with community affairs, especially with youth organisations. He was Chairman of the Victorian Youth Advisory Council and chairman of the Churchill Trust in Victoria. He retired from the Bench in 1978 and passed away in 1984.
Sir Henry Winneke AC KCMG KCVO OBE KStJ KC
Sir Henry Winneke was a Governor of Victoria and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He was educated at Ballarat Grammar School, Scotch College and the University of Melbourne where he graduated in 1929. Sir Henry was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria on 1 May 1931 and commenced practice at the Victorian Bar on 30 July 1931.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Sir Henry joined the Royal Australian Air Force in October 1939. He held the office of Director of Personnel Services and in 1941 was made a Group Captain.
Following the end of the war, Sir Henry returned to the Bar and developed a substantial general practice. Appointed a Kings Counsel in 1949, Winneke then became Solicitor General for Victoria in 1951.
In 1964 Sir Henry was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Sir Henry became Lieutenant Governor of Victoria in 1972 and Governor of Victoria two years later, in 1974. Sir Henry was knighted in 1957, created KCMG in 1966, KCVO in 1977 and AC in 1982.
Sir Henry’s father was a judge of the County Court of Victoria and his son was the first President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Artist – Sir William Dargie CBE
(1912 – 2003)
Sir William Dargie was born in Footscray, Victoria. He was educated as a primary and secondary school teacher but chose to pursue an artistic career and study at the Melbourne Technical College and informally with Archie Colquhoun. In 1941 Dargie was appointed an official war artist and travelled to the Middle-East. After the Second World War he worked to set up the exhibition galleries at the Australian War Memorial.
Dargie won the Archibald Prize on eight occasions and is best known for his portraits which include the “Wattle Painting” portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the original of which hangs in Parliament House Canberra.
The Honourable Sir Douglas Menzies
Sir Douglas Menzies was born in Ballarat in 1907, the son of a Congregational minister. His cousin was Robert Menzies, also a member of the Victorian Bar, who became Prime Minister of Australia (1939-1941; 1949-1966).
Sir Douglas studied law at the University of Melbourne, obtaining his LLB in 1928 (LLM 1969). He was the Supreme Court prizewinner for that year. He was articled to E. C. Rigby at Rigby & Fielding and was admitted as a solicitor in 1930. He was called to the Bar in 1932 and took silk in 1949.
Sir Douglas had a successful civil practise specialising in commercial and tax law. He also lectured at the University of Melbourne from 1941 to 1950. During World War II, he was secretary to the Defence Committee and Chiefs of Staff.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, Sir Douglas regularly appeared before the High Court of Australia and the Privy Council in London. He was counsel in seminal cases including the Bank Nationalisation Case and the Boilermakers Case. He was the President of the Law Council from 1956 to 1958 and was the Chairman of the Victorian Bar in 1958.
In 1958, Sir Douglas was appointed to the High Court. Sir Douglas collapsed at the NSW Bar Association’s Annual dinner on 29 November 1974 and died that night.
Sir Douglas was known for his wit and humour. The Australian Dictionary of Biography records that, “His dark hair and youthful face belied his age. He sparkled and had the ability to fill a room”. These characteristics are well captured in the portrait of Sir Douglas as a young barrister by Archibald Colquhoun. The portrait was donated to the Victorian Bar by the Menzies family.
Archibald Colquhoun (Artist)
Archibald Colquhoun (1894-1983) was born in Heidelberg, Melbourne; the son of artists. He attended the National Gallery School, where he studied under Frederick McCubbin. He later studied under Max Meldrum.
Colquhoun toured Europe during the 1920s, returning to Melbourne in 1926 to set up a studio and art school in Collins Street. His students included William Dargie (whose portraits of Sir Henry Winneke and Richard McGarvie are also in the Victorian Bar Collection).
Colquhoun’s portrait of Sir Douglas Menzies was painted in 1940, when Menzies was a junior barrister.
The Honourable Sir Murray McInerney
Murray McInerney was born 11 February 1911 and died on 23 November 1988. He served on the bench of the Supreme Court of Victoria for 18 years. He graduated MA and LLM collecting many prizes on the way in 1934 and was admitted to practice that year and signed the bar roll a year later in 1935.
World War II interrupted his career from 1942 -1945 during which he was a lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy and served as an intelligence officer attached to General MacArthur's headquarters; he saw service in Melbourne, Brisbane and on the North Coast of New Guinea where he suffered severe injury in a maritime collision. After the war, he returned to the Victorian Bar and developed his practice. He was a member of the Bar Council for 12 years and was chairman from 1962 -1963. He was also Vice President of the law Council of Australia in 1964 and 1965 and was also Deputy President of the Courts Martial Appeals Tribunal from 1959 until 1965.
He took silk in 1957 and was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1965. He was knighted in 1978. He retired from the Bench in February 1983 and continued his contributions to the law in the conduct of moots at Melbourne University; he had a firm interest in the activities ofthe Leo Cussen Institute and began to write his memoires which were not completed at the time of his death.
Sir Garfield Barwick AK GCMG QC
(1903-1997)
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick was born on 22 June 1903 and completed his schooling, while on scholarship, at Fort Street High School in Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and was awarded the University Medal in Law. Sir Barwick was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1927.
He was appointed a King's Counsel in 1941, a Knight Bachelor in 1953, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1965, and in June 1981 a Knight of the Order of Australia. Sir Barwick pursued and attained leadership positions such as President of the Bar Association (1950–52 and 1955–56), President of the Law Council of Australia (1952–54), and first President of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1966. He also served in Federal Parliament. During his terms as a Member of the House of Representatives (1958–64), he served as Attorney-General (1958–61), and Minister for External Affairs (1961–64). He was a Judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice (1973–74).
Barwick was sworn in as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 27 April 1964 and was the longest serving Chief Justice of Australia. Following his retirement from the High Court in 1981, and in recognition of his service to the Australian Parliament, government and the law, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia.
Artist – J.H. Spooner
Spooner is an Australian journalist and illustrator who is a regular contributor to Melbourne’s Age newspaper. Spooner is a graduate in law from Monash University and practised as a lawyer for several years before commencing to work for the Age.
Spooner has won many awards for excellence including Walkley Awards for cartoon illustrations.
The Honourable William Crockett AO
The Honourable William Charles Crockett AO was the longest serving Supreme Court Judge in Australia, serving on the Supreme Court of Victoria bench for 26 years. Crockett was born in Mildura and moved to Williamstown as a child, where he matriculated at age 16 in 1940. Crockett obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Master of Laws at The University of Melbourne, winning several scholarships and prizes, including the Supreme Court prize. He was admitted to practise law in 1948.
Crockett’s services as a barrister were in high demand, and he was appointed to Queen’s Counsel in 1962. As a QC he was involved in a variety of both civil and criminal cases as well as several Royal Commissions and judicial accident inquiries. He became a Supreme Court Judge in 1969, where he would serve until his retirement in April 1996, the last 10 years of which he served as senior puisne judge.
Crockett’s services were recognised in 1987 when he was made an Officer of the Order Australia for ‘service to the law and to horse racing’, given his extensive association with horse racing, being a long-time Vice-Chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club. Crockett was also awarded doctorates of law at both Melbourne and Monash Universities in 1995 and 1996. Crockett was well-respected in his application and administration of the law until his death in February 2007, aged 82 years.
The Right Honourable Sir Zelman Cowen AC GCMG GCVO
Sir Zelman Cowen was born in 1919 in Melbourne, on the day Alfred Deakin died. He was educated at the University of Melbourne (where he was awarded the Supreme Court prize) and New College Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Civil Law and the Vinerian Scholarship as the top law student at Oxford in his year. After completing his studies Sir Zelman became a lecturer at Oriel College, and there wrote his doctoral thesis on Sir Isaacs Isaacs.
In 1950 Sir Zelman was appointed to the Chair of Public Law at the University of Melbourne, and became Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Melbourne in 1951. During his career he held various academic posts, including visiting professorships at several American universities, and was later appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, and was renowned as one of the leading constitutional lawyers of the English speaking world.
He was knighted upon his appointment as Governor General of Australia in 1977, and he continued in this role until 1982. From 1982 to 1990 Sir Zelman was Provost of Oriel College, Oxford. Sir Zelman also found time to be patron of the St Kilda Football Club and Chairman of Fairfax Newspapers.
Sir Zelman died on 8 December 2011, at the age of 92. He was one of Australia’s most distinguished constitutional lawyers.
Artist – Andrew Sibley
Sir Zelman Cowen’s portrait was painted by Andrew Sibley, who was born in 1933 in Kent, England and studied at the Gravesend School of Art, before emigrating to Australia in 1948.
Andrew Sibley moved to Melbourne in 1965, and became Head of Painting, Faculty of Art & Design at Monash University in 1997, a post he held until 1999 when he retired from teaching.
Andrew Sibley has been represented at over eighty exhibitions throughout Australia, Whitechapel and Tate Museums in London, Germany and the United States.
Xavier Connor AO QC
Xavier Connor spent his early years in the Victorian High Country. His father was the publican at Tarrawingee, east of Wangaratta. At nine years old, he was sent to board at Xavier College in Kew.
In 1935, Xavier commenced his legal studies part time at the University of Melbourne, whilst also working as a Clerk of Courts. In 1941, he enlisted in the AIF and served in New Guinea, reaching the rank of Major. A gifted communicator, Xavier famously avoided a faceoff with Japanese troops behind enemy lines on 15 August 1945, by successfully conveying news of the armistice, notwithstanding the isolated location and the untimely arrival of some RAAF fighter-bombers who also had not been informed of the war’s end.
Xavier was called to the Bar in 1949 and read with Murray McInerney. He developed a broad practice with a common law and personal injuries emphasis. He took silk in 1962.
Xavier was Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council from 1967 to 1969. In 1972 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the ACT. In 1977, he became a foundation member of the Federal Court of Australia.
Xavier retired from judicial office in 1982 but continued his public service on several significant inquiries, including the Inquiry into the introduction of a Casino into Victoria (1982-83); the Committee on the Special Broadcasting Service; (Chairman 1983-84); the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Allegations Concerning a Judge (Commissioner Assisting 1984); Australian Law Reform Commission (President 1985-87); the Defence Forces Disciplinary Board Review (Chairman 1988-89) and the Inquiry into Judicial Remuneration in Victoria (Chairman 1991-92).
Xavier Connor died on 27 December 2005 aged 89. His eulogy published in the Bar News recalled him as a principled jurist and a “as noble a spirit as anyone could expect to meet”.
Xavier Connor’s portrait was commissioned by the Victorian Bar from Christine Hooper in 1992.