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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Law and Order
Law enforcement
Courts and judicial system

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Courts and judicial system

Subject

Bidura

Chelmsford Private Hospital Royal Commission 1988–90

Darlinghurst courthouse

Glebe Coroner's Court

Glebe Courthouse

Granville rail disaster 1977

Inquest into the 1975 disappearance of Juanita Neilsen 1983

King Street Courts

Luna Park Ghost Train fire 1979

Manly courthouse

Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard

Shirley Beiger

The murder of Constable Joseph Luker

Act to empower Coroners to hold Inquests concerning Fires 1861

Charter of Justice 1814

Coroners' Act 1898

Coroners' Act 1901 No 54

Coroners' Act 1912 No 30

Coroners' Bail for Manslaughter Act of 1861 No 15a

Coroner’s Act 2009

Medical Witnesses at Inquests Act 1838

Albion Street Children's Court

Bidura

Camden Courthouse

Central Court House and Police Station Liverpool Street

Central Police Station and Court House

Coroner's Court, The Rocks

Darlinghurst courthouse

Downing Centre

Forensic Medicine & Coroners Court Complex, Lidcombe

Glebe Courthouse

Ivanhoe Park Hotel

Justice and Police Museum building

Law Courts Building Queens Square

Manly courthouse

NSW State Coroner's Court and Morgue, Glebe

Newtown Courthouse

North Sydney Post Office/Court House/Police Station

Paddington Police Station and Courthouse

Parramatta Court House

Supreme Court building Elizabeth Street

Supreme Court building King Street

Supreme Court building St James Road

Water Police Court

Windsor Court House

Royal Commission into the former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in New South Wales 1988-1990

Chelmsford Private Hospital

Corrective Services NSW

Courts of General and Quarter Sessions

Criminal Court of New South Wales

Department of Attorney-General and Justice

District Court of New South Wales

Division of Forensic Medicine

Institute of Forensic Medicine

Justice and Police Museum

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

Law Commission

Local Court of New South Wales

Metropolitan Children's Court

Metropolitan Shelter for Children

Minda Child Remand Home

NSW Health Pathology Forensic Medicine

New South Wales Ombudsman

Office of the City Coroner

Office of the NSW State Coroner

Sunning Hill Education and Training Unit

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Atkins, Richard

Balmain, William

Barton, Edmund

Barwick, Garfield

Beiger, Shirley Patricia

Bent, Jeffery Hart

Brennan, Gerard

Broughton, William

Burton, William Westbrooke

Campbell, Pieter Laurentz

Cheeke, Alfred

Cohen, John J

Collins, David

Crummer, James H

Curlewis, Herbert

Deane, William

Dowling, James

Dowling, James Sheen

Evatt, Elizabeth

Evatt, Herbert Vere 'Doc'

Field, Barron

Forbes, Francis

Forbes, Terry

Gaudron, Mary

Hall, Edward Smith

Kirby, Michael

Larcombe, Helen

Mackenzie, William Henry

Macquoid, Thomas Hyacinth

Manning, John Edye

Manning, William Montagu

Marsden, Samuel

Martin, James 1820-1886

Mathew, Daniel Dering

Nash, Leonard James

Neale, Thomas Henry

O'Keefe, Barry

Rattray, George

Slattery, John Patrick

Stephen, Alfred

Stephen, John

Stephen, Matthew Henry

Stephen, Ninian

Street, Phillip Whistler

Wilkinson, William

Windeyer, Charles

Wootten, Hal

Wylde, John

Parramatta Justice Precinct

'Cooks River Cruelty' from The Police Report, Bell's Life in Sydney, 3 April 1852

'Foul Tongue v Dirty Linen' from Police Sketches, Bell's Life in Sydney 7 August 1847

'The Heroine of Cooks River' from The Police Register, Bell's Life in Sydney, 8 October 1853

Administrative and coroner's offices in the former NSW State Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

Aerial view of Queens Square c1930

All that glittered was not gold: The change in the life of Shirley Beiger, November 1954

An artist's view of a sensational inquest: The court drama of Caroline Grills August 1953

Audiovisual controls in the former Coroner's Court, Glebe 2009

Avon Street entrance to the Bidura Auditorium and Children's Court, Glebe 6 March 2015

Bidura, 357 Glebe Point Road, Glebe 6 March 2015

Blonde model weeps at inquest September 1954

Brass sign with guide to the Bidura Children's Court complex, Glebe Point Road, Glebe 6 March 2015

Bucket, turpentine bottle and funnel; presumably a Crown exhibit in the trial of the IWW Twelve, 1919

Buga-up on Trial 1978

Chief Justice Sir Francis Forbes

Chief Justice Sir Laurence Street leads the procession during the opening of the NSW Supreme Court 1 February 1977

Colonel David Collins, Lieutenant Governor, Tasmania 1896

Commission to John Dight to act as a coroner in the Colony of New South Wales, 4 June 1828

Court house, Darlinghurst 1870

Court house, Darlinghurst c1840

Courtroom 2, in the former State Coroner's Court building, Glebe September 2020

Crowds wait outside the City Morgue for witnesses in the Graeme Thorne kidnapping to leave the Coroner's Court, The Rocks 22 November 1960

Elevation of Court House 1824

Entrance to the former NSW State Coroner’s Court on Parramatta Road 2020

Gill Bowen Daniels outside the Coroner's Court, September 1954

Glebe Court House 16 February 2012

Glebe Court House c1970

His Honor Mr Justice Dowling, afterwards Sir James Dowling, C.J., 1834

Inquest begins on Luna Park 1979

Joshua Frey Josephson 1851

Judge William Charles Windeyer c1890

Judges entrance, Supreme Court, St James Road

Kate Leigh outside Central Court December 1960

Knatchbull, as he appeared on his trial 1844

Meeting room on the top floor of the former Glebe Coroner's Court building September 2020

Mixed technologies in the reporting room at the morgue, State Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

Moments in life of a model: Shirley Beiger 1954

Newspaper report of trial in the Supreme Court of the perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre, 15 November 1838

Notes on the witness box to assist with swearing the oath, in courtroom of the the former State Coroner's Court building, Glebe September 2020

Parking and loading dock in lower level of the former NSW State Coroner's Court and Morgue, Glebe 2020

Photographers and journalists outside the Coroner's Court, The Rocks c1930

Plan of lower level containing the morgue, the Glebe Coroner's Court September 2020

Plan of top floor of Glebe Coroner's Court 2020

Plan showing area damaged in the great fire of October 1890

Plaque commemorating the opening of NSW State Coroner’s Court and Morgue, Glebe, on 20 August 1971, September 2020

Police arrive with exhibits at Coroner's Court for inquest into death of Arthur Griffith, September 1954

Post-mortem and viewing room, former Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

Scene in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the case, Judge Windeyer v Evening News for contempt of court, September 1880

Sentences handed down to Thomas Berington and Elizabeth O'Brien by W Broughton, the magistrate in the Sydney Court of Criminal Jurisdiction on 29 June 1814

Shirley Beiger arrives at the Coroner's Court for the inquest into the death of Arthur Griffith, 7 September 1954

Sir Edmund Barton as a mature man

Sir Francis Forbes c1835

Sir James Martin, Chief Justice c1870

Sir John Alexander Ferguson

St James Church, Hyde Park Sydney c1840-1850

Staff height chart on the doorframe of the morgue reporting office in the former Glebe Coroner's Court 2020

Supreme Court Sydney 1848

Supreme Court and King street, looking West 1868-1881

The Court House and St James' Church 1839

The Law Courts c1900

The Police Office, Sydney, 1848

The former NSW State Coroner’s Court on Parramatta Road 2020

The morgue and refrigeration room, Coroner's Court, Glebe 2020

Title page of 'Manual for coroners and magistrates in New South Wales' by Thomas E. Mac Nevin 1884

Trial of Frank Gardiner, the bushranger, at the Supreme Court, June 1864

View of Hyde Park looking towards St. James Church and the Court House c1830-1850

View of the reporting room at the morgue, former State Coroner's Building, Glebe September 2020

Water Police Court and Phillip Street police station

Water Police Court, Phillip Street, Sydney, 1870

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Courts and judicial system

Bidura

As the primary hub for child welfare in Sydney, Bidura is a place shared by members of the Stolen Generations and Forgotten Australians and is remembered by them with little fondness.

Chelmsford Private Hospital Royal Commission 1988–90

Conducted over two years from 1988-1990, the Royal Commission into Mental Health Services examined mental health services in New South Wales. The commission specifically focused on the practices of the Chelmsford Private Hospital psychiatric institution from 1963 to 1979.

Darlinghurst courthouse

Darlinghurst Courthouse was an early purpose-built courthouse that inspired courthouse design throughout the colony for the rest of the nineteenth century. The building redefined the streetscape of Darlinghurst Hill, and played a large part in Sydney's legal history.

Glebe Coroner's Court

The former NSW State Coroner’s Court and Morgue building on Parramatta Road, Glebe, functioned as the centre of coronial justice in the state for 48 years, and tens of thousands of Sydney’s unexplained deaths, accidents, fires, explosions and missing persons were investigated there. The building housing two coroner’s courts and offices on the top floor and the morgue, refrigeration room and laboratory on the bottom floor, and from 1971 the Department of Forensic Medicine since 1971. In December 2018 it was replaced by a new facility in Lidcombe.

Glebe Courthouse

Glebe Courthouse was built in 1889 in recognition of a growing Sydney metropolitan area. However, its use as a courthouse was frustrated by the government's refusal to appoint additional stipendiary magistrates.

Granville rail disaster 1977

The Granville rail disaster on 18 January 1977 was the worst rail accident in Australian history. Eighty three people killed, and 210 were injured.

Inquest into the 1975 disappearance of Juanita Neilsen 1983

In 1983 an inquest into the 1975 disappearance of conservationist and journalist Juanita Neilsen was held at Glebe Coroner's Court.

King Street Courts

Originally designed as school buildings, then adapted for the Supreme Court and added to over nearly two centuries, King Street Courts are the heart of Sydney's legal precinct.

Luna Park Ghost Train fire 1979

The fire that broke out in the Ghost Train ride at Luna Park on the evening of 9 June 1979 claimed the lives of seven people.

Manly courthouse

Opened in 1925, one of the few courthouses built between the wars in Sydney, Manly's courthouse has been a prominent landmark ever since.

Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard

Robert Rice Howard was the official executioner or hangman in New South Wales for nearly 30 years. Initially a successful cab driver in mid-nineteenth century Sydney, he took on the role of 'finisher of the law' after losing his nose in an accident with a horse and losing much of his business.

Shirley Beiger

Shirley Beiger was a fashion model who shot and killed her lover, Arthur Griffith, outside Chequers Nightclub in 1954. She was tried for murder and acquitted. Her trial gained significant national media attention at the time.

The murder of Constable Joseph Luker

Convict Joseph Luker placed his past firmly behind him when he decided to pursue a career as a police constable in colonial Sydney. This transition from law breaker to law enforcer would also see him become the first officer of the law killed in the line of duty in Australia.

Act to empower Coroners to hold Inquests concerning Fires 1861

Act that was passed by the New South Wales government in April 1861 to empower coroners to hold inquests concerning fires. The Bill had been brought into the Legislative Councilon 12 October 1859 by Mr Holden.

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Charter of Justice 1814

Charter providing for three new civil courts in New South Wales and laying the judicial foundation of Van Diemen's Land.

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Coroners' Act 1898

An Act passed by the New South Wales parliament in July 1898 to consolidate the Enactments relating to Coroners' inquests, and to Magisterial inquiries into the cause of death.

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Coroners' Act 1901 No 54

Act passed by the New South Wales parliament to give coroners and deputy coroners the powers and duties of justices; to give certain magistrates the powers and duties of coroners; and to amend the law relating to coronial inquisitions.

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Coroners' Act 1912 No 30

Act passed by the New South Wales parliament in November 1912 to consolidate the enactments relating to coroners' inquests, and to magisterial inquiries into the cause of death.

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Coroners' Bail for Manslaughter Act of 1861 No 15a

An Act passed by the New South Wales parliament to enable Coroners to admit to bail persons charged with manslaughter.

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Coroner’s Act 2009

An Act passed by the government of New South Wales in 2009 to provide for the appointment and functions of coroners and assistant coroners; to repeal the Coroners Act 1980; and for other purposes.

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Medical Witnesses at Inquests Act 1838

An Act passed by the New South Wales government on 13 June 1838 to provide for the attendance of Medical Witnesses at Coroners' Inquests and Inquiries held by Justices of the Peace. This allowed a coroner to summon the medical practitioner who had attended the death, or, if none had been present at the time, a qualified medical witness.

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Albion Street Children's Court

Former court building constructed by builder CC Coleman of Petersham for 9555 pounds. It was soon overcrowded and outdated with a reputation for violence and was closed when the boys were transferred to Lidcombe in 1983. It has since been used by the Sydney City Mission and community organisations.

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Bidura

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Two storey Victorian house with a former ballroom and large formal garden which was once one among many grand estates along Glebe Point road. From the 1920s the house was used as a girls' home and children's court whilst a remand centre was constructed at the rear in 1980 to facilitate the operation of Bidura Children's Court. It was sold for residential development in 2014.

Camden Courthouse

Modest Italianate style court which was modified over decades to house magistrates, witnesses and other legal personnel.

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Central Court House and Police Station Liverpool Street

Court complex at 98 Liverpool Street in the city. Constructed in 1893 to a design by James Barnet with construction overseen by Walter Liberty Vernon, the building lies between Central and Liverpool streets, with access from both sides.

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Central Police Station and Court House

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Police station and courthouse on the corner of Druitt and George Street that occupied part of the old Central Markets from the early 1830s, including the domed Market House that had been built in 1820. The markets were removed to the rear of the building. Never entirely satisfactory as a police station and court, by 1880 the building was becoming derelict and was eventually demolished in 1889 along with the rest of the markets. The site is now occupied by the Queen Victoria Building.

Coroner's Court, The Rocks

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Coroners court and morgue building at 102-104 George Street in The Rocks. The second permanent coroner’s court and morgue in Sydney, it was located on the site of the earlier North Sydney Morgue, or Dead House. The building opened in 1908 sported all the modern conveniences of the time, including separate waiting rooms for male and female coronial witnesses and a glass-walled room for viewing bodies. Renovations in the late 1940s and 1950s included the first refrigerated room for cadaver storage in Sydney. This building was utilised until the late 1960s. The morgue was demolished between 1971-1972 but the court building remained standing and was repurposed as The Rocks Visitors Centre in 1973.

Darlinghurst courthouse

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Sandstone court complex in Darlinghurst Road opened in 1842 and still in legal use.

Downing Centre

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Originally the elegant Mark Foy's flagship store on the corner of Liverpool, Elizabeth and Castlereagh streets, it was converted for use as courts in 1985. It has a distinctive façade of white bricks with yellow faience work to the sills and cornices. Two corner towers with yellow pinnacles surmount the building. Originally three storeys it was extended several times in the interwar period and is now eight storeys high.

Forensic Medicine & Coroners Court Complex, Lidcombe

The largest coroner’s court and forensic medicine facility in Australia. It opened in 2018, replacing the Glebe Coroners Court. The three storey building includes four courtrooms and larger spaces for coronial and forensic teams to work, as well as additional spaces for community members.

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Glebe Courthouse

Victorian Italianate style courthouse of modest proportions to suit the middle-class, suburban context of Glebe.

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Ivanhoe Park Hotel

Hotel which was repurposed to become the first Manly Courthouse in 1884.

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Justice and Police Museum building

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Building on the corner of Phillip and Albert streets at Circular Quay comprising two 19th century courthouses and a former police station. Originally built in the 1850s to house the Water Police Court and Water Police Station, the complex has variously been used by several branches of the police service before conversion in the 1980s to the Police and Justice Museum, operated by Sydney Living Museums.

Law Courts Building Queens Square

Federal court building on Queens Square completed in 1977.

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Manly courthouse

Courthouse in Manly's commercial district which is the second building to serve local justice.

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NSW State Coroner's Court and Morgue, Glebe

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Court complex at 44–46 Parramatta Road, Glebe that functioned as the centre of coronial justice in New South Wales for 48 years. The building housed two coroner’s courts, and offices, on the top floor, and the morgue, cool room and laboratory on the ground floor. The Department of Forensic Medicine was also housed in the building after 1971. In 2018 the Coroner and the Department of Forensic Medicine both moved to new purpose built premises at Lidcombe.

Newtown Courthouse

Courthouse in Victorian Italianate style which has been associated with the provision of law and justice in the area since 1885 and is an important element of Newtown's civic precinct.

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North Sydney Post Office/Court House/Police Station

Complex built between 1886 and 1889 to a design by James Barnet.

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Paddington Police Station and Courthouse

Victorian Free classical style facility which has served the community since 1888. The court is now closed but the police station remains.

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Parramatta Court House

Court house built on the site of the old Woolpack Inn. It was extended several times but eventually demolished leaving only the tower standing.

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Supreme Court building Elizabeth Street

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Colonial office building in Victorian Tudor style.

Supreme Court building King Street

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Georgian style courthouse on King Street next door to St James church. The building was originally intended to be the Georgian Public School, Macquarie's first public school, but was modified during construction to accommodate the Supreme Court instead.

Supreme Court building St James Road

Court house in the Federation Free style facing St James Road and part of the Supreme Court complex.

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Water Police Court

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Courthouse on Phillip Street designed by Colonial Architect Edmund Blacket in 1856 for hearing cases brought by the Water Police. A police station was built next door in 1857, and another court building added to the complex in 1886. In 1990 the buildings were adapted for use as the Police and Justice Museum.

Windsor Court House

One of the earliest surviving court house buildings in Australia and a rare early 19th century Georgian style public building. Governor Macquarie requested the original timber court house be replaced and a new one was designed by Francis Greenway. It was built using convict labour, overseen by William Cox. The building consists of a courtroom, ancillary rooms at each corner of the building as well as an extension designed by James Barnet and carried out in the 1870s and 1882. It was restored and renovated and the it remains in use today.

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Royal Commission into the former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in New South Wales 1988-1990

Royal Commission, better known as the Chelmsford Royal Commission, that investigated the use of deep-sleep therapy, a controversial treatment for psychiatric illnesses, between 1963 and 1979 at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in north west Sydney. The Commission was established after an investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald and was chaired by Commissioner Justice Slattery. It found that 24 people had died as a result of the treatment. Only four of the deaths had been investigated by a coroner. The report led to the treatment being banned and changes to the way coroners worked in New South Wales.

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Chelmsford Private Hospital

Small private psychiatric hospital that was established in a former house at 2 The Crescent, Pennant Hills, in 1963, where psychiatrist Dr Harry Bailey undertook experimental treatments on patients including deep sleep therapy and electric shock therapy. By 1979 more than 24 people had died. Despite complaints from patients and their families, coronial inquests found Bailey had no case to answer. A Royal Commission into the treatment of the patients at the hospital was established in 1988 and prompted the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill (1987)which introduced ‘improved disciplinary structures for [the] investigation and hearing of complaints concerning medical practitioners’.

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Corrective Services NSW

State government department responsible for custodial and community based services as part of the criminal justice system. Prisons had originally been managed by the Sheriff's office, but this role was split in 1874 and, along with the Ofiice of the Sheriff, the Department of Prisons was formed. In 1970 the name was changed to the Department of Corrective Services.

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Courts of General and Quarter Sessions

Known as Quarter Sessions, it was a court which could deal with 'crimes and misdemeanours not punishable by death' and was formalised in New South Wales in 1824 under the provisions of the 'Better Administration of Justice in New South Wales Act 1823'. The court ceased in 1973 when the Quarter Sessions were abolished, establishing one District Court of New South Wales.

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Criminal Court of New South Wales

The Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (established 1823), for dealing with the most serious criminal offences.

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Department of Attorney-General and Justice

Government department responsible for administering the courts, tribunals, laws and justice programs of the State. The New South Wales Department of Attorney General and of Justice was formed in 1901. Both branches were responsible for the various Courts and Sessions, however the Justice branch was responsible for the coroner. This responsibility went largely unchanged for sixty years, when responsibilities were reallocated in 1975. The department was revised to the Attorney-General’s Department in 1984.

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District Court of New South Wales

Intermediate branch of the court system dealing with crime and civil matters not serious enough for the Supreme Court, established in 1858.

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Division of Forensic Medicine

Established in 1961, the Division of Forensic Medicine was a specially formed division within the Department of Public Health. It had previously been known as the Government Medical Officers Branch. The division was located within the Glebe Coroner’s Court along Parramatta Road, opposite the University of Sydney. In the early 1970s, the division was responsible for performing all autopsies to bodies that came under the authority of the Sydney City Coroner. The Forensic Pathology department also undertook medical investigations regarding aircraft crashes and provided post-graduate training to medical practitioners. The division furthermore performed functions regarding forensic biology, including providing services to the New South Wales Police. The operating functions of the division ceased in 1991 when it was re-established as the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

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Institute of Forensic Medicine

Established in 1991, the Institute was formed from the Division of Forensic Medicine. The Institute was formed under the NSW Department of Health, however the agency also reported to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney. The Institute conducted research into various medical inquiries, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and performed post-mortem examinations. In 2001 these post-mortem examinations became the subject of an inquiry by Special Commissioner Bret Walker. The inquiry lead to the abolition of the Institute and the establishment of the Department of Forensic Medicine.

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Justice and Police Museum

Museum which houses over 9000 items relating to the social history of law, policing and crime in New South Wales.

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Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

Environmental and planning court responsible for interpreting and enforcing environmental law in the state of New South Wales.

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Law Commission

Commission set up by Governor Fitzroy to investigate and report on the judicial establishments of the colony.

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Local Court of New South Wales

Lowest court in the judicial hierarchy. Now known as Local Courts, presided over by magistrates and dealing with most minor civil and criminal matters. Originally established in Windsor in 1821, the Court of Petty Sessions (now known as the Local Court of NSW) was established to take on responsibility for minor civil and criminal matters at a local level. Glebe Court of Petty Sessions was established under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1883. Almost a century later, a second Court of Petty Sessions was established within the Coroner’s Court and Forensic Pathology building at 44–46 Parramatta Road, Glebe. The Court of Petty Sessions was abolished in 1984 when the Local Courts Act 1982 was implemented.

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Metropolitan Children's Court

Court established by the Neglected Children and Juvenile Offenders Act, 1905 to hear and determine cases of offences committed by or against children.

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Metropolitan Shelter for Children

Shelter and receiving home for children awaiting hearings in the Children's Court

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Minda Child Remand Home

Remand centre providing accommodation, health care and children's court for juveniles charged with misconduct. From 1990 it became a juvenile justice detention centre for boys on remand from around the state.

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NSW Health Pathology Forensic Medicine

State government service that carries out independent post-mortem examinations and related testing at the direction of the Coroner to help investigate unexplained or unexpected deaths in NSW. Over 6,000 deaths are submitted to the NSW Coroner for further investigation every year. As part of the coronial process, NSW Health Pathology’s Statewide Forensic Medicine team respectfully engage with families of the deceased and, where directed, carry out post-mortem examinations for the coroner to help investigate unexpected, unexplained or suspicious deaths across three sites in NSW (Sydney/Lidcombe, Newcastle and Wollongong). The organisation also provides environmental health testing to public health units in NSW and delivers services to the NSW Roads and Maritime Service, local government bodies and other organisations.

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New South Wales Ombudsman

Created in 1974, the New South Wales Ombudsman was introduced as an independent agency to hold State Government agencies accountable when a complaint by the public is made regarding their performance. The NSW Ombudsman can be called upon to provide evidence to the Coroner regarding the cause and patterns of deaths (e.g. child deaths). The Ombudsman can help facilitate improvements to government agencies if a coronial inquest has resulted in further recommendations in order to prevent further deaths.

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Office of the City Coroner

A branch of the Attorney General's department that kept details and statistics for the City Coroner for the Sydney Metropolitan coroners and incumbents in other country New South Wales districts from the 1830s until the late 1930s or early 1940s when the branch was absorbed into the Petty Sessions Branch.

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Office of the NSW State Coroner

The State Coroner oversees and coordinates coronial services in NSW, and is assisted by the Deputy State Coroners. The State Coroner and Deputy State Coroners are all magistrates. Every Local Court magistrate is also a coroner, and may be assisted by an Assistant Coroner.

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Sunning Hill Education and Training Unit

School for girls with special needs within the juvenile detention network.

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Supreme Court of New South Wales

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Highest court in New South Wales, which presides over the most serious and important criminal and civil cases. As the results of a coronial inquest are final and cannot be appealed, the Supreme Court also has the power to order a new inquest under a prerogative writ.

Atkins, Richard

Judge-advocate who remained the colony's principal legal officer for many years despite his life of immorality, insolvency and alcoholism.

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Balmain, William

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First Fleet assistant surgeon, later principal surgeon and landowner.

Barton, Edmund

Advocate of Federation, first Prime Minister of Australia and later High Court judge.

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Barwick, Garfield

Lawyer, politician and Chief Justice of the High Court.

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Beiger, Shirley Patricia

Model and magazine cover girl who shot and killed her lover, Arthur Griffith, outside Chequers Nightclub in 1954. She was acquitted of the crime and her trial gained significant national media attention at the time.

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Bent, Jeffery Hart

First Supreme Court judge in Sydney, who was dismissed by Governor Macquarie.

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Brennan, Gerard

Lawyer, judge and tenth Chief Justice of Australia.

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Broughton, William

Dedicated and trustworthy public servant who arrived with the First Fleet.

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Burton, William Westbrooke

Lawyer, judge and politician who helped develop legal structures in the colony.

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Campbell, Pieter Laurentz

Magistrate and public servant who acted as Colonial Treasurer 1839-41.

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Cheeke, Alfred

Lawyer and horse breeder who was the first judge appointed to the District Court in 1858 and later a Supreme Court judge.

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Cohen, John J

Architect who became a lawyer, politician, and District Court judge, and was very involved in public affairs.

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Collins, David

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Deputy judge advocate and secretary to the governor, who arrived on the First Fleet, was responsible for the legal establishment of the colony, and wrote the most complete account of the colony's first years.

Crummer, James H

British soldier who arrived in Sydney in 1835 with his Greek-born wife and family, and served nearly 30 years as a soldier and later police magistrate in the colony.

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Curlewis, Herbert

Barrister and writer who became a District Court judge.

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Deane, William

Judge and 22nd Governor-General of Australia.

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Dowling, James

Judge and Chief Justice in Sydney from 1828 to 1844.

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Dowling, James Sheen

Lawyer and judge who spent three decades on the NSW District Court.

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Evatt, Elizabeth

Reformist lawyer and jurist who is an outspoken advocate for human rights and particularly women's rights, serving as the first Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia and holding many national and international positions in law reform.

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Evatt, Herbert Vere 'Doc'

Labor politician and judge who was a creative and innovative foreign minister and libertarian but who alienated many with his greed for publicity and erratic political decisions.

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Field, Barron

Judge of the Supreme Court whose early high regard and wise counsel in the colony was soon seen as elitist and fractious.

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Forbes, Francis

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First chief justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Forbes, Terry

Magistrate and coroner.

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Gaudron, Mary

First female Justice of the High Court of Australia.

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Hall, Edward Smith

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Banker, charity worker and editor who used his editorial position as an advocate of a free press, representative government and trial by common jury. In November 1819 he was appointed to the position of the coroner of the territory of New South Wales by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, for which he was paid an annual salary of £80. He resigned from the position in October 1821 and went to his property at Lake Bathurst near Goulburn. On his return to Sydney in 1826 he founded the newspaper The Monitor with Edward Hill, leading to many disputes with Governor Ralph Darling and convictions for libel.

Kirby, Michael

Jurist, judge and academic.

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Larcombe, Helen

Newcastle solicitor who bought Marie Byles practice but sold when she was appointed magistrate in 1976.

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Mackenzie, William Henry

Justice of the Peace and licensing magistrate.

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Macquoid, Thomas Hyacinth

Irishman appointed Sheriff of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

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Manning, John Edye

Administrator who was registrar of the Supreme Court of NSW and an active figure in colonial life, before he went bankrupt in the 1840s losing trust fund money in the process.

full record »

Manning, William Montagu

Prominent barrister, judge and politician who also oversaw a period of significant change as chancellor of the University of Sydney.

full record »

Marsden, Samuel

full record »

Anglican chaplain who used his extensive landholdings to promote the sheep industry but is equally remembered for his extreme severity as a magistrate.

Martin, James 1820-1886

Politician and lawyer who rose from a humble background to be a member of parliament, Chief Justice of the colony and Premier three times between 1863 and 1872.

full record »

Mathew, Daniel Dering

Free settler in the St Ives area who worked in the colony as architect, engineer and magistrate.

full record »

Nash, Leonard James

Senior magistrate and NSW coroner.

full record »

Neale, Thomas Henry

Magistrate at Hartley and landowner with his brother James in Katoomba.

full record »

O'Keefe, Barry

Barrister and Supreme Court judge who was the longest serving Mayor of Mosman and staunch supporter of environment and heritage conservation bodies.

full record »

Rattray, George

Magistrate and businessman.

full record »

Slattery, John Patrick

Barrister and Supreme Court Judge who, on his retirement in 1988, chaired the NSW Royal Commission into Mental Health Services.

full record »

Stephen, Alfred

Chief justice and politician whose long career saw great changes in the law and the colony.

full record »

Stephen, John

Lawyer who came to Sydney after legal success in the West Indies and was appointed first solicitor-general of New South Wales. He was made a judge in 1826.

full record »

Stephen, Matthew Henry

Lawyer and judge, usually known as Henry Stephen, who was active in social and philanthropic circles. He was the son of Alfred Stephen.

full record »

Stephen, Ninian

Barrister and judge who served as Governor General of Australia from 1982 to 1989.

full record »

Street, Phillip Whistler

Lawyer and judge, who became chief justice and Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales.

full record »

Wilkinson, William

Judge and prominent Glebe resident.

full record »

Windeyer, Charles

full record »

Magistrate and police superintendent. He served as the first Mayor of Sydney in the period between the city's incorporation in August 1842 and the first elections in November.

Wootten, Hal

Retired judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court, he was the founding Dean of the University of New South Wales Law School, and a Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

full record »

Wylde, John

Judge-advocate who defended the independence of the judiciary and of the rule of law against the convenience of the executive.

full record »

Parramatta Justice Precinct

Legal campus comprising judicial and administrative functions, community service health and welfare related needs.

full record »

'Cooks River Cruelty' from The Police Report, Bell's Life in Sydney, 3 April 1852

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-article59774396 via Trove]

(Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 3 April 1852, p3)

'Foul Tongue v Dirty Linen' from Police Sketches, Bell's Life in Sydney 7 August 1847

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-article59764845 via Trove]

(Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 7 August 1847, p2)

'The Heroine of Cooks River' from The Police Register, Bell's Life in Sydney, 8 October 1853

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 8 October 1853, p3 via Trove]

Administrative and coroner's offices in the former NSW State Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Aerial view of Queens Square c1930

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

[037\037155]

(SRC10753)

All that glittered was not gold: The change in the life of Shirley Beiger, November 1954

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Truth, 28 November 1954, p50 via Trove]

An artist's view of a sensational inquest: The court drama of Caroline Grills August 1953

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sunday Telegraph 23 August 1953 p5 via Trove]

Audiovisual controls in the former Coroner's Court, Glebe 2009

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Avon Street entrance to the Bidura Auditorium and Children's Court, Glebe 6 March 2015

full record »

By

Linda Brainwood

Contributed By

Private collection

Bidura, 357 Glebe Point Road, Glebe 6 March 2015

full record »

By

Linda Brainwood

Contributed By

Private collection

Blonde model weeps at inquest September 1954

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, September 18, 1954, p19 via Trove]

Brass sign with guide to the Bidura Children's Court complex, Glebe Point Road, Glebe 6 March 2015

full record »

By

Linda Brainwood

Contributed By

Private collection

Bucket, turpentine bottle and funnel; presumably a Crown exhibit in the trial of the IWW Twelve, 1919

full record »

Contributed By

Sydney Living Museums

[Justice & Police Museum ; 167]

(Justice & Police Museum Collection)

Buga-up on Trial 1978

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Gallery of Australia

[Accession No: NGA 83.1919]

(Ã‚Â© Leonie Lane)

Chief Justice Sir Francis Forbes

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1528031 / DG 272]

Chief Justice Sir Laurence Street leads the procession during the opening of the NSW Supreme Court 1 February 1977

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d3_33053 / GPO3 33053]

(Mitchell Library) (Copyrights State of New South Wales through the Department of Attorney General and Justice)

Colonel David Collins, Lieutenant Governor, Tasmania 1896

full record »

By

John Watt Beattie

Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, State Library of Tasmania

State Library of Tasmania

[AUTAS001125646778]

Commission to John Dight to act as a coroner in the Colony of New South Wales, 4 June 1828

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Court house, Darlinghurst 1870

full record »

By

Charles Percy Pickering

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1107024 / PXD 524, 22]

Court house, Darlinghurst c1840

full record »

By

Frederick Garling

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a128246 / DG SV1A/20]

Courtroom 2, in the former State Coroner's Court building, Glebe September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

©

New South Wales Department of Trade and Investment Regional Infrastructure and Services

Crowds wait outside the City Morgue for witnesses in the Graeme Thorne kidnapping to leave the Coroner's Court, The Rocks 22 November ...

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ ON 388/Box 082/Item 054]

(In 'Bradley case - coroners court, 22 November 1960', Mitchell Library)

Elevation of Court House 1824

full record »

By

Standish Lawrence Harris

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1357025 / C 225, 29]

(from 'Standish Lawrence Harris - Report & Estimate of the Value of the Improvements which have taken place in the Public Buildings of Sydney....' 1824)

Entrance to the former NSW State Coroner’s Court on Parramatta Road 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Gill Bowen Daniels outside the Coroner's Court, September 1954

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, 18 September 1954, p20 (detail) via Trove]

Glebe Court House 16 February 2012

full record »

By

Balmain and Glebe Heritage

Contributed By

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/69965207@N03/6883726013]

(CC BY 2.0))

Glebe Court House c1970

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

[85080]

(SRC23906 Bernard Smith Collection)

His Honor Mr Justice Dowling, afterwards Sir James Dowling, C.J., 1834

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Inquest begins on Luna Park 1979

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Bulletin 26 June 1979 p34 via Trove]

Joshua Frey Josephson 1851

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a928154 / P2/9]

(Mitchell Library)

Judge William Charles Windeyer c1890

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a755018 / PXA 1023/250]

(Mitchell Library)

Judges entrance, Supreme Court, St James Road

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d1_30701 / GPO1 30701]

(Mitchell Library)

Kate Leigh outside Central Court December 1960

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ON 388/Box 082/Item 055]

(In 'Bradley trial coroners court, 5 December 1960', Mitchell Library)

Knatchbull, as he appeared on his trial 1844

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[A923.41/K67/2]

(Mitchell Library)

Meeting room on the top floor of the former Glebe Coroner's Court building September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Mixed technologies in the reporting room at the morgue, State Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Moments in life of a model: Shirley Beiger 1954

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, 18 September 1954, p21 via Trove]

Newspaper report of trial in the Supreme Court of the perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre, 15 November 1838

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-article2550304]

Notes on the witness box to assist with swearing the oath, in courtroom of the the former State Coroner's Court building, Glebe September ...

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Parking and loading dock in lower level of the former NSW State Coroner's Court and Morgue, Glebe 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Photographers and journalists outside the Coroner's Court, The Rocks c1930

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[PXE 789 (v.14), f30]

Plan of lower level containing the morgue, the Glebe Coroner's Court September 2020

full record »

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Plan of top floor of Glebe Coroner's Court 2020

full record »

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Plan showing area damaged in the great fire of October 1890

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(from Late fire in Pitt-Street (coronial inquiry respecting) : ordered by the Legislative Assembly to be printed, 17 December, 1890, Sydney : Charles Potter, Govt. Printer, 1891., Mitchell Library)

Plaque commemorating the opening of NSW State Coroner’s Court and Morgue, Glebe, on 20 August 1971, September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Police arrive with exhibits at Coroner's Court for inquest into death of Arthur Griffith, September 1954

full record »

Police arrive with exhibits. Officer on right has rifle alleged to have been used in shooting. His companion has bag of golfclubs police say was found in car with rifle.

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[PIX, 18 September 1954, p20 (detail) via Trove]

Post-mortem and viewing room, former Coroner's Court, Glebe September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Scene in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the case, Judge Windeyer v Evening News for contempt of court, September 1880

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[nla.news-article70947794]

(Australian Town and Country Journal, 18 September 1880, p 552)

Sentences handed down to Thomas Berington and Elizabeth O'Brien by W Broughton, the magistrate in the Sydney Court of Criminal Jurisdiction ...

full record »

Transcription: Thomas Bevington, a carpenter, between 70 and 80 years of age, was next convicted of stealing several carpenter's tools, the property of Samuel Haslam, of the Parramatta Road. Sen-tenced six months confinement in Parramatta gaol.

Elizabeth O'Brien stood next indicted, for burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling- house of Thomas Fuller, at Parramatta, on the night or early in the morning of the 26th of March last, and stealing therefrom about 20 yards of calico, value 20s. the sale of which in various fragments was by evidence traced immediately to the prisoner at the bar : She was accordingly found Guilty ; but although the offence was capital in the eye of the Law, yet the Court, from the consideration of the offence being unaccompanied by any of those terrors to the injured persons which rank the crime of burglary among the more direful and abominable species of offences, had thought proper to remit the capital part of the charge ; but finding it necessary at the same time to deter others from similar acts of dishonesty by the force of example, had found her guilty of the stealing, and adjudged that she should stand in the pillory at Parramatta on the 7th of July next, between the hours of 9 and 10 in the forenoon, for one hour, and be kept 5 years to hard labour.

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 25 June 1814, p2 (via Trove)]

Shirley Beiger arrives at the Coroner's Court for the inquest into the death of Arthur Griffith, 7 September 1954

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Australian Photographic Agency - 42858]

(Mitchell Library)

Sir Edmund Barton as a mature man

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.ms-ms51-12-1267-s1]

Sir Francis Forbes c1835

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a928577 / ML 14]

(Mitchell Library)

Sir James Martin, Chief Justice c1870

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1321059 / PXA 549/23a]

(Mitchell Library)

Sir John Alexander Ferguson

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.pic-an12148737]

St James Church, Hyde Park Sydney c1840-1850

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a623014 / PX*D 123, 5a]

Staff height chart on the doorframe of the morgue reporting office in the former Glebe Coroner's Court 2020

full record »

By

Darrienne Wyndham

Contributed By

Artefact Heritage Services

Supreme Court Sydney 1848

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ML C94 opp p 74]

(from 'Sydney in 1848 : illustrated by copper-plate engravings of its principal streets, public buildings, churches, chapels, etc from drawings by Joseph Fowles' Sydney, 1848, Mitchell Library)

Supreme Court and King street, looking West 1868-1881

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

The Court House and St James' Church 1839

full record »

By

Thomas S Hatfield

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a928128 / SSV1/Pub Ct H/2]

(Mitchell Library)

The Law Courts c1900

full record »

By

Contributed By

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

(Tyrrell Photographic Collection)

The Police Office, Sydney, 1848

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Gallery of Australia

[Accession No: NGA 2005.689]

(from book 'Sydney in 1848 : illustrated by copper-plate engravings of its principal streets, public buildings, churches, chapels, etc.' from drawings by Joseph Fowles, engraved by F. Mansell. Purchased 2004)

The former NSW State Coroner’s Court on Parramatta Road 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

The morgue and refrigeration room, Coroner's Court, Glebe 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Title page of 'Manual for coroners and magistrates in New South Wales' by Thomas E. Mac Nevin 1884

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Manual for coroners and magistrates in New South Wales : being a practical guide to the proceedings of the coroner's court and to the holding of magisterial inquiries in lieu of inquests by justices of the peace, by Thomas E. Mac Nevin, Chief Clerk, Department of Justice, Sydney : Govt. Printer, 1884.) (Mitchell Library)

Trial of Frank Gardiner, the bushranger, at the Supreme Court, June 1864

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[IMP25/06/64/8]

View of Hyde Park looking towards St. James Church and the Court House c1830-1850

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1528002 / DG SSV1/9]

(Mitchell Library)

View of the reporting room at the morgue, former State Coroner's Building, Glebe September 2020

full record »

By

Simon Anders, Images for Business

Contributed By

Health Infrastructure

Water Police Court and Phillip Street police station

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Home and Away - 23511]

(Mitchell Library)

Water Police Court, Phillip Street, Sydney, 1870

full record »

By

Charles Percy Pickering

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a089337 / SPF/337]

(NSW Government Printing Office collection of copy negatives, frame no. GPO 1 - 05667)

Law enforcement