John Latham (judge)

Sir John Latham KBE ( born August 26, 1877 in Ascot Vale, Victoria, † July 25, 1964 in Melbourne) was an Australian politician and, among others, Foreign Minister of the country.

Early life

Latham was born in Ascot Vale, a suburb of Melbourne. His father was a celebrity of the city and tried very hard to animal welfare. John Latham got a scholarship to Scotch College and Melbourne University, where he studied law and philosophy, among others. He received the Supreme Court Judge's Prize. In November 1902 Latham was the first secretary of Boobook Society - a group of academics and professionals, which still exists today.

During the First World War he was an officer in the Royal Australian Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. For Australia, he took part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. He also began the Prime Minister Billy Hughes not to like.

Political career

In 1904 he was admitted to the Bar Association of Victoria and Queen's Counsel in 1922. In 1922, Latham was elected as an Independent in the Australian House of Representatives. Although he was close to party by Billy Hughes of his political orientation of the nationalist stood for him, however, that he would not serve because of his experience, which he made with him in Europe under him. Latham won the seat of the constituency Kooyong in Victoria. Immediately after Hughes ' ​​resignation, he decided to join the Nationalist Party. From 1925 to 1929 he was general counsel for the Commonwealth under Stanley Bruce and Earle Page. After Bruce in 1929 lost his parliamentary seat was Latham 's new leader of the Nationalist Party. After the later prime minister Joseph Lyons along with several other MEPs left the Labor Party, he resigned in his favor of the party leadership and gave him the job as opposition leader. In 1931 he became general attorney again. This time for the United Australia Party in government Lyons '. At the same time, he was Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister unofficially. He was able to hold until his retirement in 1934 by the Australian Parliament this position.

Latham was determined on 11 October 1935, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Australia ( High Court). From 1940 to 1941 he took a break from the court and traveled to Tokyo to serve there as Australia's prime minister in Japan. In April 1952, he resigned from the High Court.

In 1964, he died in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne. He was a great supporter of Australian literature. Latham had three children with his wife Ella, however, both his wife and two of his children died before him.

The Labor Party leader during the 2004 election, Mark Latham, has no family relationship with him.