Bound by every tie of duty : John Lewes Pedder, Chief Justice of Van Diemen's land / Jacqueline Fox.

North Melbourne, Vic. : Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2018.

1st edition

89400

Pedder, John Lewes, -- Sir, -- 1793-1859.

Judges -- Tasmania -- Biography.

Australia -- History.

Part I: Pedder's life-world

1. Origins and appointment

2. Family life

3. Society and friends

4. Cultural and philanthropic pursuits

Part II: A Tasmanian Judge Jeffreys?

5. The bloody code in Van Diemen's Land

6. The 'hanging judge' narratives

7. It is an odious situation to appear the advocate for capital punishment

Part III: A puppet of Government?

8. A lion under the Colonial Throne

9. The jury question

10. Nadir to Apotheosis.

John Lewes Pedder (1793-1859) served as Chief Justice of Van Diemen's Land from 1824 to 1854, and his long career provides a unique window into the colonial world - through crime, politics, and frontier collision with the island's Aboriginal people. Where Pedder's critics condemn a subservient official who hindered reform and sent hundreds to the gallows, contemporaries lauded an upright judge, courteous gentleman, liberal friend and accomplished scholar. This new biography offers a sensitive account of a complex and surprisingly sympathetic man, who played a significant role in Tasmanian history. - Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 288-313) and index.

9781925801163

xxii, 324 p., 9 unnumbered plates : ill., port. ; 23 cm