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Back to article: SIR RICHARD DAVIES HANSON (1805–1876)

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HANSON, SIR RICHARD DAVIES (1805–1876), chief justice of South Australia, was born in London on the 6th of December 18o5. Admitted a solicitor in 1828, he practised for some time in London. In 1838 he went with Lord Durham to Canada as assistant-commissioner of inquiry into crown lands and immigration. In 184o, on the death of Lord Durham, whose private secretary he had been, he settled in Wellington, New Zealand. He there acted as crown prosecutor, but in 1846 removed to South Australia. In 1851 he was appointed advocate-general of that colony and took an active share in the passing of many important measures, such as the first Education Act, the District Councils Act of 1852, and the Act of 1856 which granted constitutional government to the colony. In 1856 and again from 1857 to 186o he was attorney-general and leader of the government. In 1861 he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of South Australia and was knighted in 1869. He died in Australia on the 4th of March 1876.