This paper by the Honourable John Bryson QC establishes the terms of the Rules of Court of the Supreme Court of New South Wales while (Sir) Francis Forbes was its Chief Justice from 13 October 1823 until he retired on 1 July 1837, and until the end of 1839. The paper provides a guide to those Rules and their context in legislation regulating civil litigation. There was no practice book for the Supreme Court in the period before 1840. New and comprehensive rules of court took effect on 1 January 1840.

Click on  NSW Rules of Court 1823 – 1839 for the paper. The first part of the Appendix for paper is available on the following links: Appendix 1; Appendix II; Due to the size of the original file it was not possible to include all of the extensive Appendix. Printed copies of the paper and the Appendix are available in the Law Courts Library in the Law Courts Building  in Macquarie Street and another in the Library at Macquarie University. Further details concerning the paper and Appendix can be gained by contacting the webmaster, Tony Cunneeen on acunneen@bigpond.net.au or the author,  the Honourable John Bryson QC, at growlybr@bigpond.net.au

A paper by The Honourable John Bryson QC on the Almorah Affair. Briefly describing the affair, John wrote:The Almorah was seized in Sydney Cove in February 1825 by a Naval officer hunting a reward for enforcing the Tea Monopoly and urged on by Sydney merchants who did not like Government imports. He sent the ship to Calcutta and the litigation lasted five years. The tea was owned by the Colonial Government and was outside the Monopoly. There were no gains and great losses in time, money and reputation.

The full paper is available on the following link:  1 Lecture The Almorah Affair Tea Shipping and the Colony.  John Bryson QC delivered a paper to the Legal History Discussion Group on the Almorah Affair on 28 May 2014.  1 Lecture The Almorah Affair Tea Shipping and the Colony