Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith is the last in Dr Bennett's remarkable 19th century series Lives of Australian Chief Justices.
The seventeenth volume, co-authored with Dr Solomon, continues a project John Michael Bennett began as a Senior Research Fellow in Law at the Australian National University over 40 years ago. He is the sole author of sixteen volumes in the series.
His (19th century) Lives of the Australian Chief Justices has been described by Australian Historical Studies as a series that adds “an important missing dimension in the field of legal history in Australia [and makes] engaging reading”, it reflects Dr Bennett’s fastidious research coupled with his long experience in professional law practice and in various academic positions.
His extensive publications, chiefly in Legal History, but also as a law reporter and sometime Editor-in-Chief of The Australian Digest, have received much recognition and praise. He was twice awarded the C H Currey Memorial Fellowship by the State Library of New South Wales; was a Churchill Fellow in 2000; and received the New South Wales History Fellowship 2006 for his writing a biography of Sir Alfred Stephen, Third Chief Justice of New South Wales.
On examination of published works, he has received the rare degrees of Doctor of Laws (Sydney) and Doctor of Letters (ANU); and he is an Honorary Doctor of Letters (Sydney). A Life Member of The New South Wales Bar Association, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 for services to the law.
Titles by Dr J M Bennett AM:
- Sir William a'Beckett - First Chief Justice of Victoria 1852-1857
- Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith - Third Chief Justice of Tasmania 1870-1885
- Sir Archibald Burt - First Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1861-1879
- Reluctant Democrat - Sir William Denison in Australia 1847 - 1861
- Sir James Cockle - First Chief Justice of Queensland, 1863-1879
- Sir Charles Cooper - First Chief Justice of South Australia, 1856-1861
- Sir James Dowling - Second Chief Justice of New South Wales, 1837-1844
- Sir Francis Forbes - First Chief Justice of New South Wales, 1823-1837
- Sir John Pedder - First Chief Justice of Tasmania, 1824-1854
- Lives of Australian Chief Justices Set
- Sir Alexander Onslow - Third Chief Justice of Western Australia 1883-1901
- Sir Valentine Fleming - Second Chief Justice of Tasmania 1854-1869, Acting Chief Justice 1872-1874
- Sir Charles Lilley - Premier 1868-1870 and Second Chief Justice 1879-1893 of Queensland
- Sir Frederick Darley - Sixth Chief Justice of New South Wales 1886-1910
- Sir Henry Wrenfordsley - Second Chief Justice of Western Australia, 1880-1883
- Sir William Stawell - Second Chief Justice of Victoria, 1857-1886
- Sir James Martin - Premier 1863-1865, 1866-1868, 1870-1872 and Fourth Chief Justice 1873-1886 of New South Wales
- Colonial Law Lords - The Judiciary and the Beginning of Responsible Government in New South Wales
- George Higinbotham - Third Chief Justice of Victoria
- Sir Alfred Stephen - Third Chief Justice of New South Wales 1844-1873
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