NSW Silk appointments

Prior to 1993 silks were referred to as QC or KC (KC from 1901-1952) depending on the reigning sovereign – they commenced being referred to as SC on and from 1993. Please note that formal titles and/or post nominals that may have been held by an individual on their appointment as a silk have been omitted.

Note: An individual is not listed here if it is know he/she was appointed silk in another jurisdiction prior to taking silk status in NSW where this is known.

Name Date of appointment External links
Plunkett, John Hubert 6 June 1856
Manning, William Montagu 23 May 1857
Darvall, John Bayley 16 September 1857
Martin, James 12 November 1857
Broadhurst, Edward 17 August 1858
Lutwyche , Alfred James Peter 10 December 1858
Hargrave, John Fletcher 7 August 1863
Butler, Edward 19 November 1873
Dalley, William Bede 19 March 1877
Stephen, Matthew Henry 2 April 1879
Darley, Frederick Matthew 2 April 1879
Salomons, Julian Emanuel 18 February 1881
Gordon, Alexander 29 August 1882
Owen, William 29 August 1882
Wisdom, Robert 6 April 1886
Foster, William John 6 December 1886
Simpson, George Bowen 6 December 1886
Rogers, Francis Edward 13 December 1887
Pilcher, Charles Edward 13 December 1887
Want, John Henry 13 December 1887
Wrenfordsley, Henry Thomas 21 February 1889
Barton, Edmund 19 March 1889
Donovan, John Joseph 23 October 1894
Simpson, Archibald Henry 18 November 1896
Walker, William Gregory 18 November 1896
Heydon, Charles Gilbert 18 November 1896
O’Connor, Richard Edward 18 November 1896
Reid, George Houstoun 1 November 1898
Wise, Bernhard Ringrose 1898
Armstrong, John 1901
Sly, Richard Meares 1904
Smith, Bruce 1904
Gordon, Alexander 1904
Cullen, William Portus 1905
Wade, Charles Gregory 1905
Stephen, Cecil Bedford 1906
Ralston, Alexander Gerard 1906
Knox, Adrian 1906
Shand, Alexander Barclay 1906
Owen, Langer Meade Loftus 1906
Lamb, S Ernest 1910
Campbell, James Lang 1910
Gannon, James Conley 1910
Garland, John 1910
Loxton, Edward James 1910
Canaway, Arthur Pitcairn 1911
Rich, George Edward 1911
Leverrier, Francis Hewitt 1911
Rolin, Tom 1912
Blacket, Wilfred 1912
Piddington, Albert Bathurst 1913
Innes, Reginald Heath Long 1916
Windeyer, Richard 1917
Lingen, John Taylor 1918
Mack, Sidney 1918
Broomfield, Reginald C 1919
James, Augustus George Frederick 1919
Maughan, David 1919
Brissenden, Edwin Mayhew 1920
Thomson, Alexander 1920
Flannery, George Ernest 1920
Holman, William Arthur 1920
Coyle, William Thomas 1920
Mocatta, William Hugh 1920
Watt, Andrew Robert James 1920
Coghlan, Charles Augustus 1921
Bethune, Francis John 1922
Peden, John Beverley 1922
Teece, (Richard) Clive 1922
Bavin, Thomas Rainsford 1924
Boyce, Francis Stewart 1924
Weigall, Cecil Edward 1925
Feez, Arthur Herman Henry Milford 1925
Mitchell, Ernest Meyer 1925
Curtis, William John 1925
Hammond, John Harold 1926
Davidson, Colin George Watt 1926
Browne, Joseph Alexander 1926
Rogers, Percival Halse 1926
Monahan, William Willis 1927
Russell, Francis Alfred Allison 1927
Bonney, Reginald Schofield 1927
Jordan, Frederick Richard 1928
Manning, Henry Edward 1928
Stephen, Edward Milner 1928
Markell, Horace Francis 1928
Sheridan, John Patrick Garvan 1929
Maxwell, Allan Victor 1929
McKean, Leslie John 1929
Evatt, Herbert Vere 1929
Garran, Robert Randolph 1932
Abrahams, Leonard Sydney 1932
Weston, Claude Alfred 1934
Mason, Harold Harvey 1934
Pitt, Arthur Gladstone Matcham 1934
Hardwick, Charles Aubrey 1934
Bradley, William James 1934
Williams, Dudley 1935
Dovey, Wilfred Robert 1935
Spender, Percy Claude 1935

Note for interest

William Charles Wentworth, admitted in 1824 with Robert Wardell as foundation barristers in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, was accorded the distinction of wearing a silk gown in February 1835 – the first in private practice to be so recognised (Sydney Gazette, 12 February 1835). That was a ‘patent of precedence’ but did not entitle him to use the term ‘King’s Counsel’. Senior law officers customarily wore silk gowns in court in the early decades of the Supreme Court.