Vale – Margaret Collis

Margaret was the widow of Brian Collis QC (Roll No. 839) who predeceased her on 29 March 2018.

Margaret died of complications of dementia which she had suffered for some years and which saw her enter care after Brian’s death.

Margaret was born on 29 July 1944 in San Francisco and met Brian in London in 1970. Margaret intimated to Brian that if he ever travelled to the United States to look her up. She frequently said – “well, the next minute he was there on my doorstep” – in San Francisco.

Brian and Margaret married in November 1973 and lived in Mt Eliza where they were both prominent in the local community. They had two children, David who died in tragic circumstances in 1993, and Andrea, who qualified in law and practised as a solicitor, but now farms in the western district with husband Nick Armytage and their children Henry and Audrey.

Margaret studied law as a mature age student and took a First-Class Honours degree at Monash University. Brian moved her admission to practice on 1 June 1993. Margaret read with Richard Boaden and signed the Bar Roll on 25 November 1993 Margaret practised mainly in the procedural lists in the Supreme Court including the Major Torts List. She retired from practice in June 2000.

Margaret will be missed by her former friends and colleagues at Seabrook Chambers and by the broader Bar community.