Philip Whistler Street
Sir Philip Whistler Street, KCMG, KC was an Australian judge. He served as the 8th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales. He was the first generation of the Street family to serve in these viceregal offices, which were later held by his son Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Whistler Street, and his grandson Colonel Sir Laurence Whistler Street.
He was the first wholly Australian-trained lawyer to serve as Chief Justice of Australia's first Supreme Court, and he was the second longest serving Chief Justice of that Supreme Court. His son Sir Kenneth's accession to the Supreme Court of New South Wales while he was Chief Justice made the only Australian case of a father and son presiding over the same Supreme Court.
Early years
Street was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 9 August 1863. He was the son of Australian politician John Street and Susanna Caroline Street. His father was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1887 to 1891, and his mother was the granddaughter of Australian explorer William Lawson, who pioneered the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by British colonists, along with William Wentworth and Gregory Blaxland.Street attended Sydney Grammar School. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Sydney Law School in 1883, and he was admitted to the New South Wales Bar Association on 25 August 1886. He married Belinda Maud Poolman at St John's Anglican Church in Toorak, Melbourne, on 1 February 1888.
Early career
On 24 July 1906, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Street was made a full judge of the Supreme Court on 11 February 1907 following the resignation of Justice W. G. Walker in February of that year. Street principally presided in bankruptcy, divorce and probate cases. He was also deputy president of the now abolished Court of Arbitration, which dealt with industrial disputes between employer and employee, as well as setting minimum wage standards in the state. Street also sat in the now abolished Vice-Admiralty Court, first established in New South Wales during the time of Governor Arthur Phillip to deal with maritime disputes. In 1915, one of his sons, Lieutenant Laurence Whistler Street, was killed in action at Gallipoli serving in the First World War. Laurence had volunteered for military service in August 1914, making him one of the earliest of his generation to do so.In 1918, Street was appointed the Chief Judge in Equity. He was the first wholly Australian-trained lawyer to become Chief Justice of Australia's first Supreme Court. Street was also appointed a Royal Commissioner on many occasions. The most significant of these were concerning the administration of the Returned Soldiers' Settlement Branch of the Department of Lands in 1921 and the case against the Industrial Workers of the World in 1918. In the latter commission, IWW was an organisation that promoted the concept of one big union. In Australia, they were active in campaigning against World War I. One campaign led to a police officer being shot and killed, for which two IWW members were found guilty and hanged.
Later career
Street's elder son Kenneth became a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales while he was himself. According to Percival Serle, this may be the first time a father and son have sat on the same Supreme Court bench together.Street became acting Chief Justice in 1924 and on 28 January 1925, he became Chief Justice proper, succeeding Sir William Cullen. He was appointed KCMG by King George V in the 1928 New Year's List. He became Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales in 1930, and he administered the government in the absence of the governor in 1934, 1935, and 1936. Street served as Chief Justice until his 70th birthday in 1933. According to the Supreme Court, he resigned his commission, although Serle notes that he actually retired. Whichever is correct, he was the second longest serving judge in New South Wales history.
Further details
Street was the Chairman of Sydney Grammar School from 1912 to 1929. He was a member of the Senate of the University of Sydney from 1915 to 1934, and he was deputy Chancellor in 1926. He was a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1923 and was its chairman from 1934 to 1938. He was also a trustee of the Australian Museum. Street was president of the New South Wales division of the Boy Scouts Association, of the Boys' Brigade, the New South Wales Home for Incurables, the St John Ambulance Association, and of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. He was patron in New South Wales of the Victoria League, English-Speaking Union, Japan-Australia Society and the Royal Zoological Society. In 1934, he was appointed as the American non-national member of the international commission provided for by the treaty between the United States of America and Greece. He died on 11 September 1938, and he had a state funeral at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.Family
Sir Philip's brother Ernest married Emma Browne, who was the daughter of Australian police magistrate and author Commissioner Thomas Alexander Browne.Sir Philip's son Sir Kenneth Whistler Street married Jessie Mary Grey (née Lillingston), Lady Street, who served as Australia's first female delegate to the United Nations, and as the first Vice President of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and who was the daughter of Charles Alfred Gordon Lillingston,, an Imperial Civil Service officer, and Mabel Harriet Ogilvie, who was the daughter of Australian politician Edward David Stuart Ogilvie and Theodosia de Burgh. Sir Kenneth and Jessie had four children. Their daughter Philippa married Australian Test cricketer Jack Fingleton,, who was the son of Australian politician James Fingleton. Their son Colonel Sir Laurence Whistler Street married Susan Gai (née Watt; formerly Lady Street),, who served as the first female chair of the Eastern Sydney Health Service, and who was the niece of pioneering Australian aviator Lieutenant Colonel Walter "Toby" Oswald Watt,, and the granddaughter of Australian politician John Brown Watt, and the great-granddaughter of Australian politician George Kenyon Holden. Sir Laurence's son Commander Alexander "Sandy" Street,, serves as an Australian federal judge, and as an officer of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve. Sir Laurence's daughter Lieutenant Commander Sylvia Emmett (née Street), served as an Australian federal judge, and as an officer of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve, and she is married to Australian federal judge Arthur Emmett,,, who is the Challis Lecturer Professor in Roman Law at Sydney Law School. Sylvia and Arthur's son James Emmett, serves as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.