Windeyer, Richard (1806 - 1847)

Summary

Richard Windeyer was a prominent figure in New South Wales during the mid 1800s. Prior to arriving in Australia, he worked as journalist on the Morning Chronicle, the Sun, the Mirror of Parliament and the Australian. Once in Sydney however, he turned his attentions to the law, politics and farming. Windeyer set up a very successful legal practice in Sydney and worked on many high-profile cases. He was such a passionate barrister that he and the opposing council almost came to blows during one trial. This resulted in both men spending Christmas of 1846 in Darlinghurst goal for contempt of court. In 1842 Richard Windeyer was elected to the Legislative Council where he was responsible for many new policies and bills: the monetary confidence bill, a jury reform bill which replaced trial by assessors with trial by jury, and the 'Mr Windeyer's Libel Act' of 1847. He also debated the tariff bill of 1843 and the national school system bill (1844), and helped open trade markets between New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and the United Kingdom. In the Hunter valley region, Windeyer established a vineyard, sugar-cane and wheat farm where he also ran cattle, horses and pigs. He spent vast sums of money importing new farming equipment, methods and techniques from Europe and Great Britain to establish one of the most mechanised farms of the time. Windeyer was also president of the local agricultural society and a member of the Aboriginal Protection Society, Sydney Mechanic's School of the Arts and the Australian School Society.

Details

Chronology

1829 - c. 1834

Education - Student in the Middle Temple, UK

1834

Career position - Called to the Bar

1834 - 1835

Career position - London correspondent for the Australian newspaper

1835 -

Career position - Private legal practice established in Sydney

28 November 1835

Life event - Migrated to Australia (Sydney)

1838

Career position - Purchased land in the Hunter valley to establish a homestead, vineyard and mixed farm

1843 -

Career position - Member for Durham County in the Legislative Council

1844

Career position - Introduced a bill to amend jury laws in New South Wales to allow trial by jury

1846

Career position - Charged with contempt of court and sent to Darlinghurst goal

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Windeyer Family Records, 1829 - 1849, MSS 186; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Windeyer, J. B., 'Windeyer, Richard (1806-1847), journalist, barrister, agriculturist and politician' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Douglas Pike, ed., vol. 2 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 615-617. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020560b.htm. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7330035. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/3000148390871810830008. Details
• 'Windeyer, Richard (1806-1847)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1466462. Details