THE FRANCIS FORBES SOCIETY
FOR AUSTRALIAN LEGAL HISTORY
ACN 55 099 158 620
and co-sponsors
THE NEW SOUTH WALES BAR ASSOCIATION
and
THE WOMEN BARRISTERS FORUM
present
THE FORBES LECTURE, 2013
PROGRAMME
Lecture
Title:
“Equity and Property Rights in a
Nineteenth Century Marriage”
Lecturers: Professor Diane Kirkby (LaTrobe
University)
Dr Hilary Golder (UNSW)
Time:
5.15pm, Wednesday 13 November 2013
Venue:
Common Room, NSW Bar Association,
Basement, Selborne Chambers,
174 Phillip Street, Sydney
Quote for the Day:
“Not
until 1870 did [the UK] Parliament make any systematic
attempt to place the law governing the property of married
women on a just foundation. What was it that delayed until
well-nigh the end of the Benthamite era a reform which
must, one would have thought, have approved itself to every
Liberal?
The answer is to be found in the existence under the rules
of equity of a married woman’s separate property.
The barbarism of the common law did not, as a rule, press
heavily either upon the rich who derived political power from
their wealth and position, or upon the laboring poor who had
at last obtained much of the political power due to numbers.
The daughters of the wealthy were, when married, protected
under the rules of equity in the enjoyment of their separate
property. The daughters of working men possessed little
property of their own. The one class was protected, the
other would, it seemed, gain little from protection.
A rich woman indeed here or there who married without
having the prudence to obtain the protection of a marriage
settlement, or a woman of the poorer classes who was
capable of earning a good income by the use of her talents,
might suffer grievous wrong from the right of her husband to
lay hands upon her property or her earnings, but, after all,
the class which suffered from the severity of the common
law was small, and injustice, however grievous, which
touches only a small class commands in general but little
attention.
Changes in the law, moreover, which affect family life
always offend the natural conservatism of ordinary citizens.
It is easy, then, to see that the rules of equity by mitigating
the harshness of the common law did for a certain time
postpone a necessary reform.”
AV Dicey, Lectures on the relation between Law & Public Opinion
in England during the 19th century (Macmillan & Co, London, 2nd
ed, 1914), pp 384-385.
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ORDER OF EVENTS
CHAIR:
Jane Needham SC, Senior Vice President, NSW Bar Association
INTRODUCTION OF LECTURERS:
Jane Needham SC
PRESENTATION OF LECTURE:
Professor Diane Kirkby
Dr Hilary Golder
VOTE OF THANKS:
Wendy Robinson QC, Junior Vice-President, Forbes Society
LEGAL HISTORY NEWS
AUSTRALIAN LEGAL HISTORY ESSAY COMPETITION
The deadline for submission of essays to be entered in this year’s Australian Legal History
Essay Competition is 5.00pm on Monday, 9 December, 2013.
The Competition “Conditions of Entry and “Guidelines” are published on the Forbes Society
website (www.forbessociety.org.au) together with ideas for essay topics.
The Competition provides prizes in separate categories for Tertiary Students, Senior
Seconday School Students and Junior Secondary School Students.
TUTORIALS : UNDERSTANDING AUSTRALIAN LAW THROUGH LEGAL HISTORY
Throughout 2013 the Forbes Society has conducted, for members and friends, fortnightly
tutorials in legal history. Tutorials have been led by a variety of presenters: Bathurst CJ,
Emmett JA, Young AJ, Button J, Black J and Lindsay J from the Supreme Court of NSW;
Nick Manousaridis,now a judge of the Federal Circuit Court; David Ash and James Watson
of the Bar; and Supreme Court Tipstaves, Robert Turnbull, Ben Chen and Claire Langford.
The two remaining tutorials for the year will be held on Tuesday 26 November and Tuesday
10 December. On the first of those dates, Acting Justice Peter Young will speak of the
“Historical Development of Laws relating to the Supreme Court’s ‘Protective Jurisdiction’ vis
á vis Vulnerable People”. On the second, Larissa Reid (of the Law Courts Library) and
Lindsay J will speak on “Sources of Law: Law Reporting, Precedent, Legal Literature, Legal
Education, the Legal Profession and Development of Law”.
Tutorials are held in Court Room No. 1, Hospital Road Court Complex (entrance via the
chambers of Lindsay J), between 5.10pm – 6.10pm, on the nominated dates. All welcome.
Subject to demand, a similar programme will be held in 2014.
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FORBES SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, Monday, 25 November 2013 at 4.30pm
The Annual General Meeting of the Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History will
be held on Monday, 25 November commencing at 4.30pm in Court Room No. 1, Hospital
Road Court Complex (entrance via Lindsay J’s chambers).
ANZLHS ANNUAL CONFERENCE : 25-27 November 2013
This year’s annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society
will be held at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, between 25-27 November
2013.
For further information, access the Society’s website: www.waikato.ac.nz/law/anzlhs
Professor Diane Kirkby is a member of the ANZLHS Committee, and editor of the Society’s
E-Journal.
SELDEN SOCIETY IN AUSTRALIA
The Selden Society, founded in England by FW Maitland in 1887, operates in Australia
through the Supreme Court of Queensland Library. For further information, access the
Society’s web page: www.sclqld.org.au/schp/selden
THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT DATABASE
The Forbes Society anticipates that, in early 2014, the Australian Capital Punishment
Database (assembled under the supervision of Tim Castle in collaboration with Dr Amanda
Kladelfos) will be officially launched. A further announcement will be made in due course.
THE FORBES FLYER
Members of the Forbes Society receive, each quarter, the Society’s electronic newsletter,
The Forbes Flyer, edited by David Ash. Each issue is posted on the website of the Society
(www.forbessociety.org.au). Prospective contributors are invited to contact the editor via
email (d.ash@fjc.net.au) or by telephone (02 9229 7311).
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AUSTRALIAN LAW
In 2013 Federation Press published two volumes of essays entitled, Historical Foundations
of Australian Law. Volume 1 (edited by Justin Gleeson SC, SG, James Watson and Ruth
Higgins) is entitled “Institutions, Concepts and Personalities”. Volume 2 (edited by Justin
Gleeson, James Watson and Elisabeth Peden) is entitled “Commercial Common Law”. For
further information, access Federation Press’s website: www.federationpress.com.au.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE FORBES SOCIETY
Membership of the Forbes Society is open to everybody. Membership application forms can be
downloaded from the Society’s website: www.forbessociety.org.au
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