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Justice, 4 February 1929 to 17 April 1952
Chief Justice 18 April 1952 to 13 April 1964

A dominant barrister armed with impeccable logic, a passion for precise language, and an encyclopaedic memory, Owen Dixon (1886-1972) presided over perhaps the finest common law court in the English-speaking world.¹ He is widely regarded as Australia’s greatest jurist.²

Born in Hawthorn, Victoria, Dixon studied at the University of Melbourne and graduated with degrees in arts and law. He married Alice Crossland Brooksbank in 1920 and they had four children. He joined the Victorian Bar in 1910 and quickly gained a prominent reputation for his legal expertise. While a junior barrister he took three pupils, Robert Menzies,³ Henry Baker,⁴ and James Tait.⁵ Dixon became a KC in 1922, by which time he dominated the Bar as ‘its outstanding lawyer and greatest advocate’.⁶ He was highly effective at arguing at the High Court of Australia appearing in both constitutional and non-constitutional cases. He appeared on several occasions before the Privy Council.⁷

A reluctant jurist, Dixon declined positions on the bench of the Victorian Supreme Court and the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. On 4 February 1929, at 42 he was appointed to the High Court of Australia. He later said he accepted the post ‘because I was told I ought’. Dixon’s reluctance stemmed from his view that judicial work was ‘the most difficult, most exacting and least satisfying of any work’ that he had attempted.⁸

With the outbreak of war in 1939, Dixon offered his administrative services to Prime Minister John Curtin and chaired several government boards while continuing his judicial duties.⁹ In 1942, he took leave to become Australia’s ambassador to Washington. Dixon was recalled at his own request in 1944 and returned to the High Court, though this would not be his only foray into diplomacy. In 1950, he was a United Nations’ mediator regarding India’s and Pakistan’s dispute over Kashmir.¹⁰

In 1952, Dixon was appointed the sixth Chief Justice, where he served for 12 years. The Dixon court was characterised by strict legalism, following the precedent of the House of Lords and the English Court of Appeal. There was a strong belief in the uniform interpretation of common law throughout the British Commonwealth. However, in 1963, the Court refused to follow British precedent because ‘it was fundamentally wrong’.¹¹ This led to the development of a distinct Australian common law.

In 1951, Dixon was appointed a Privy Counsellor, and in 1954, appointed GCMG, having been KCMG in 1941. He held honorary degrees from Oxford, Harvard, Melbourne and the ANU and his awards included the Harry E Howland 1955 memorial prize ‘for services to mankind’. In 1963 he was appointed to the OM.

Dixon retired in 1964, stating: ‘All I lay claim to is that I came on the Bench because I thought I ought to, and I am going because I think I ought to’.¹² He died on 7 July 1972 at his home in Hawthorn.

Archibald Douglas Colquhoun
Melbourne-born artist and teacher, Archibald Colquhoun (1894-1983) attended the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, where he studied drawing under Frederick McCubbin before becoming a staff artist for the Herald. He continued to train under Charles Richardson before meeting Max Meldrum, who would become his mentor and have a major influence on his work. Between 1924 and 1926, Colquhoun travelled across England and Europe, exhibiting at the Société des Artistes Français (Paris) and the Royal Institute of Painters (London). On his return to Melbourne in 1926, he established a studio and art school with his wife and fellow artist, Amalie Feild. Noted as a dedicated teacher and a prominent painter, Colquhoun was an influential figure in the Australian art scene. His students included William Dargie, Harley Griffiths and Rex Bramleigh. Colquhoun won various art prizes throughout the 1930s including the Crouch Prize and the Newman Prize for Australian Historical Painting and was a regular entrant and finalist in the Archibald Prize. His work is represented in a number of state and regional galleries across Australia.¹³

Owen Dixon 
by Archibald Douglas Colquhoun
1955
Oil on canvas
112 x 97 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, High Court of Australia

References
1. L Zines, ‘Dixon Court’ in T Blackshield, M Coper and G Williams, eds, The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria, 2001, p. 220.
2. ‘Seven heroes of the legal profession’, Law Institute of Victoria, accessed 10 August 2021.
3. AW Martin, ‘Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon (Bob) (1894–1978)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed 10 August 2021.
4. HA Finlay, ‘Baker, Sir Henry Seymour (1890–1968)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed 10 August 2021.
5. JD Merralls, ‘Tait, Sir James Blair (1890–1983)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2012, accessed 10 August 2021.
6. K Hayne, ‘Dixon, Owen’, in Blackshield et al., pp. 218–20.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9.  The Central Wool Committee, the Shipping Control Board, the Commonwealth Marine War Risks Insurance Board, the Salvage Board, and the Allied Consultative Shipping Council. See W Shrubb, ‘Sir Owen Dixon’s 130th birthday’, Rule of Law Education Centre, 28 April 2016, accessed 28 July 2021.
10. G Anderson and D Dawson, ‘Dixon, Sir Owen (1886–1972)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed 10 May 2021.
11. L Zines, op. cit.
12. ‘High Court Farewell’, The Canberra Times, 14 April 1964, p. 1, accessed 29 July 2021.
13. PW Perry, ‘Colquhoun, Archibald Douglas (Archie) (1894–1983)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2007, accessed 25 March 2021.