In Memoriam
In memoriam
Vale Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan AM FAHA 1943 – May 2024
The Forbes Society joins with the Australian Academy of the Humanities in expressing our condolences on Professor Lyndall Ryan’s passing. We were grateful for her invaluable work and her November 2020 presentation ‘Making the Past Visible: The Colonial Frontier Massacre Map Project and the Legacies of Frontier massacres’, chaired by the President of the Forbes Society Chief Justice Allsop and then Chair of the Ngara Yura Committee, the Hon Justice Lucy McCallum, then of the NSW Court of Appeal.
The Australian Academy of the Humanities acknowledges, with deep sadness, the death of Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan AM FAHA.
Lyndall was a pioneering and highly influential Australian historian, whose work recast and reconceptualised the historical experiences of Aboriginal people in colonial and post-colonial contexts.
She is recognised internationally as a leading scholar in massacre studies, particularly of colonial frontier massacre in Australia. Lyndall’s commitment to truth-telling was captured most notably through her leadership on the project The Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788 – 1930 and the subsequent digital map. You may like to take the time to read about her work here. We extend our sincerest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. She will be greatly missed.
In memoriam
Vale Dr John Kennedy McLaughlin AM (1938-2023)
With much sadness the Francis Forbes Society notes the unexpected and untimely death yesterday of Dr John Kennedy McLaughlin AM. John McLaughlin was heavily involved in the legal profession throughout his entire career, and a good friend of the Francis Forbes Society. He was a long time Master in Equity and then Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (1989-2010). After his retirement he completed his doctorate on the role of Irish lawyers in Australia and delivered the 9th Plunkett lecture to the Francis Forbes Society in 2020.
On 27 November 2009, he was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of the University of Sydney. The citation noted that he attained, in 1973, the rare degree of Master of Laws (with First Class Honours) for his thesis “The Magistracy in New South Wales, 1788-1850”, which stands as a seminal work of authority on the subject. He was a Councillor of the Royal Australian Historical Society. He made a significant contribution to the Australian Dictionary of Biography over many years. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014 “for significant service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly through the documentation and preservation of Australian legal and constitutional history, and to the community.” (Photo Courtesy Catholic Weekly)
In memoriam
Dr J.M. Bennett AO
With sadness, the Francis Forbes Society notes the death of Dr J.M. Bennett AO yesterday, 17 July 2022. Dr Bennett was one of Australia’s leading legal historian with many credits to his name. He worked closely with Professor Alex Castles, Professor Bruce Kercher and others. Dr Bennett edited A History of the New South Wales Bar (1969). He wrote A History Of Solicitors In New South Wales (1984), Portraits of the Chief Justices of New South Wales (1977) and the several volumes of the Lives of Australian Chief Justices, amongst other writings. He will be sorely missed.
In memoriam
Philip Selth OAM
The following Obituary to Philip was first published in the New South Wales Bar Association, InBrief on 7 July 2020. It is reproduced with the permission of the author, Bret Walker SC. It can be found at: PHILIP ALAN SELTH OAM
Philip Selth OAM was the founding Honorary Executive Director of the Society, then variously a member of the Advisory Board and Councillor. Philip’s support for the Society and its legal history work was vital.
Photo courtesy Australian Dictionary of Biography – one of the many history projects which Philip supported so passionately. He wrote six entries in the ADB. Click on the following link for a piece written by Philip on his experience with the ADB: Philip Selth in the ADB
Further Details from the NSW Bar Association are available at: VALE PHILIP ALAN SELTH OAM
