Crown Solicitor of South Australia
| Crown Solicitor of South Australia | |
|---|---|
Incumbent since January 2025Lucinda Byers | |
| Attorney-General's Department | |
| Inaugural holder | Charles Mann |
| Formation | 1837 |
| Website | Attorney-General's Department (South Australia) |
The Crown Solicitor of South Australia provides legal services to South Australian government Ministers, agencies and departments.
In the early days of the colony the titles of Advocate-General, Crown Solicitor and Public Prosecutor were bestowed together. That changed in 1850 due to the ill-health of then Advocate-General, William Smillie. As a consequence of Smillie's ill-health, the position of Crown Solicitor was given to Charles Mann. Mann briefly held the title of Acting Advocate-General before resigning that position in favour of Richard Hanson. Hanson became South Australia's last Advocate-General and the provinces first Attorney-General in the inaugural Parliament in 1857.
Since 1850, the position of Crown Solicitor has been a public sector employee. The current Crown Solicitor of South Australia, as of January 2025, is Lucinda Byers.[1]
List of Crown Solicitors of South Australia (1851 to 2025)
| Crown Solicitor | Time in office |
|---|---|
| Charles Mann | 1837–38 |
| George Milner Stephen | 1838 |
| Robert Bernard | 1838–40 |
| William Smillie | 1840–52 |
| William Bartley (Acting) | 1849–50 |
| Charles Mann | 1850–56[2] |
| William Alfred Wearing QC[3] | 1856–67[4] |
| William Bakewell | 1867–70[5] |
| Richard Bullock Andrews QC[6][7] | 1870–81[8] |
| Charles Mann QC | 1881–89[9] |
| James Martin Stuart | 1889–1905[10] |
| Charles James Dashwood KC[11][12] | 1905–16[13] |
| Frederick William Richards KC[14] | 1916–27[15] |
| Albert James Hannan[16][17] | 1927–52[18] |
| Reginald Roderick St Clair Chamberlain KC[19][20] | 1952–59[21] |
| Joseph Reginald Kearnan QC[22] | 1959–68 |
| William Andrew Noye Wells QC[23] | 1968–69 |
| Ralph Meyrick Hague | 1969–70 |
| Leslie Kenneth Gordon | 1970–76 |
| Graham Clifton Prior QC[24] | 1976–84 |
| Catherine Margaret Branson QC | 1984–89 |
| Bradley Maxwell Selway QC[25] | 1989–96 |
| Michael Walter QC[26] | 1996–2004 |
| Simon Stretton SC[27] | 2004–10 |
| Gregory Parker | 2010–13 |
| Michael Evans QC[28] | 2015–16 |
| Judith Hughes | 2016–17[29] |
| Michael Wait SC[30] | 2018–20 |
| Laura Stein | 2020–21[31] |
| Ingrid Norman | 2021–2024 |
| Lucinda Byers | 2025– |
References
- ^ Department, Attorney-General's (4 November 2025). "2024-25 Annual Report". Attorney-General's Department. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
- ^ In 1851, the Office of Crown Solicitor was severed from that of Advocate-General. 'THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 18 Jul 1851: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38449569
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 16 March 1865
- ^ 'THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 11 Apr 1856: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49753208
- ^ 'THE MONTHS NEWS' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 9 Aug 1867: 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39188731
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 16 March 1865
- ^ 'Andrews, Richard Bullock (1823 - 1884)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015
- ^ 'GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) 21 Jan 1870: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28588503
- ^ 'Latest News' Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912) 18 Mar 1881: 2 Edition: SECOND EDITION http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197752712
- ^ 'THE NEW CROWN SOLICITOR' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) 15 Aug 1889: 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24482422
- ^ appointed King's Counsel 18 July 1906
- ^ 'Dahswood, Charles James (1842 - 1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015
- ^ 'PERSONAL' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) 5 Jul 1905: 6 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4938274
- ^ appointed King's Counsel 8 September 1921
- ^ 'CROWN LAW APPOINTMENT' Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 - 1924) 1 Aug 1916: 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105360150
- ^ appointed King's Counsel 15 January 1935
- ^ 'Hannan, Albert James (1887 - 1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015
- ^ 'CROWN LAW OFFICE' News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954) 28 Apr 1927: 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129246812
- ^ appointed King's Counsel 8 May 1947
- ^ 'Chamberlain, Sir Reginald Roderick St Clair (1901 - 1990)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015
- ^ 'New Crown Solicitor' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) 25 Jul 1952: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47401900
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 5 May 1960
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 20 September 1962
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 8 January 1978
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 1 December 1994
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 4 December 2003
- ^ appointed Senior Counsel 26 October 2009
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 17 January 2008
- ^ John Rau (4 July 2017). "Full-time SACAT President appointed" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ appointed Queen's Counsel 22 November 2016
- ^ "Experienced lawyer appointed as SA's new Crown Solicitor | Premier of South Australia". www.premier.sa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020.