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
Starke, Joseph Gabriel 1961
Kenny, Philip John 1961
Williams, John Myles 1961
Lee, John Austell 1961
Glass, Harold Hyam 1961
Jenkins, Hermann John 1961
Officer, Forbes John David 1962
Sweeney, John Bernard 1962 Australian Dictionary of Biography
Whitlam, Edward Gough 1962
Hughes, Thomas Eyre Forrest 1962
Franki, Robert James Anning 1963
Cahill, Cedrick Alan Francis 1963
Fox, Russell Walter 1963
Street, Laurence Whistler 1963
Mason, Anthony Frank 1964
Kelly, Donald Francis 1964
Lusher, Edwin Augustus 1964
McGregor, Douglas Gordon 1964
Ellicott, Robert James 1964
Holland, Kevin James 1964
Samuels, Gordon Jacob 1964
Boulter, Thomas Alfred Milton 1965
Watson, Raymond Sanders 1965
Hiatt, Jack Thomas 1965
Wootten, Jack Halden 1965
Bellanto, Anthony John 1965
Cohen, Kenneth Arthur 1966
Muir, Alastair Gibson 1966
Gruzman, Laurence Charles 1966
Helsham, Michael Manifold 1966
Staunton, James Henry 1966
Deane, William Patrick 1966
Henchman, Hereward John Humfry 1967
Hutley, Francis Charles 1967 Australian Dictionary of Biography
Loveday, Ray Francis 1967
Needham, George Denys 1967
Jeffrey, Philip John 1967
Robson, Hugh Walker 1968
Slattery, John Patrick 1968
Henderson, Robert Greenway 1968
Maxwell, Alan Victor 1968
Godfrey-Smith, David Laurie 1968
Morling, Trevor Rees 1968
Milne, Douglas Bertram 1968
Wran, Neville Kenneth 1968
Wright, Bertram John Fiennes 1969 State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales
Tanner, Leon George 1969
Bannon, Charles Joseph 1969
McAlary, Frank Stratton 1969
Ludeke, John Terrence 1969
Sheppard, Ian Fitzharding 1969
Knoblanche, Ernest Paul 1969
Bainton, Russell John 1969
Bishop, Edwin Sidney 1970
Melville, John Alan 1970
Fullagar, Richard Kelsham 1970
Waddall, Thomas William 1970
Simblist, Samuel Hyman 1970
Powell, Philip Ernest 1970
Martin, Trevor James 1971
Ward, William Desmond Thomas 1971
Cantor, Henry Laurence 1971
Smith, George Hillary 1971
Watson, Frederick Vernon 1971
Fisher, William Kenneth 1971
McCaw, Kenneth Malcolm 1972 Australian Dictionary of Biography
Marr, Reginald Joseph 1972
Gee, Kenneth Grenville 1972
Finlay, Mervyn David 1972
Falkingham, Thomas 1972
Dey, John Fletcher 1972
Priestley, Lancelot John 1972
Masterman, George Gurney 1972
Gormly, Francis Jacob 1972
Downing, Robert Reginald 1973
Wallace, Vincent Reinehr 1973
Purnell, Howard Frank 1973
Rogers, Andrew John 1973
Handley, Kenneth Robert 1973
Lockhart, John Stanley 1973
Evatt, Phillip George 1973
Ford, Joseph Kevin 1973
Rossiter, Henry Edwin 1973
Barbour, Richard Thornton Harvey 1973
Shand, Alexander Barclay 1973
Yeldham, David Albert 1973
Horton, Daniel Edmund 1973
Murray, Kevin Ross 1973
Collins, Anthony David 1973
McHugh, Michael Hudson 1973
Kearney, John Basil 1974
Porter, Chester Alexander 1974
Roden, Adrian 1974
St John, Robert James Baldwin 1974
Cullinan, Clive Vincent 1974
Darvall, Cholmondeley 1974
McInerney, Peter Aloysius 1974
Sinclair, John Bowditch 1974
Foster, Michael Leader 1974
Campbell, Michael William 1974
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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.

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