Sir Valentine Fleming

As a distorting mirror in a fun fair renders a small figure gigantic, so this biography of Sir Valentine Fleming appears to magnify the man. But it is no distortion or illusion. Fleming, though long forgotten, was one of the most distinguished among the pantheon of Chief Justices serving in colonial Australia. His life and career are a model of the good judicial life. An English barrister of Irish descent and education, Fleming arrived in Tasmania in 1842 after the Colonial Office appointed him Commissioner of Insolvent Court at Hobart. Meticulous in office, and very successful in permitted private Bar practice, he quickly made his mark. The government quickly noticed his unswerving allegiance to its policies They thought him 'a useful man' and promoted him - to Solicitor-General, to Attorney-General (where he hated the rough and tumble of politics with its accompanying publicity) and then in 1854, to the Supreme Court. Fleming served as Chief Justice for 17 years. He showed a mastery of legal principle: in Hampton v. Fenton, for example, his decision was upheld by the Privy Council. Conscientious, considerate and courteous, he dispelled the enmity his pro-government views has formerly attracted. As well, he played a prominent role in Tasmania's public life. A leading Anglican layman, he was the first Chancellor of the Diocese of Tasmania; as a proponent of universal education, he was the first President of the Tasmanian Council of Education. His grand residence 'Holbrook', in Hobart, survives as memorial to a distinguished life.