Frederick Jordan

Jordan was born on 13 October 1881 in London, the son of Frederick Jordan and Sarah Jordan (née Nobel). He grew up in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, after his parents migrated to Australia in 1886 when Jordan was five. He attended Balmain Superior Public School,{{efn|The School is next to Gladstone Park, Balmain, and was also referred to as Gladstone Park State School,{{cite web |url=http://www.supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/sco2_aboutus/sco2_history/chief_justices/sir_frederick_richard_jordan.aspx |title=The Honourable Sir Frederick Richard Jordan, K.C.M.G. |date=5 December 2015 |publisher=Supreme Court of NSW}}}} for his primary education and Sydney Boys High School for his secondary education. After leaving school, he was employed as a clerk in the Master in Lunacy's office between 1898 and 1900. He later worked as a shorthand writer and typist in the Public Library of New South Wales (now the State Library of New South Wales) from 1900 and the then State's Intelligence Department from 1906.{{cite AuDB |first=J.M. |last= Bennett|authorlink= |title=Jordan, Sir Frederick Richard (1881–1949) |id2=jordan-sir-frederick-richard-6884 |accessdate= }}

Jordan was a sub-editor of publications and compiler in the Bureau of Statistics from 5 June 1907. During this time, he began evening studies at the University of Sydney, which eventually led to him obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1904, and an LL.B. with second-class honours in 1907. He was a Wigram Allen Scholar in 1904 and a George and Matilda Harris Scholar in 1905.{{cite web |url=https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/person/101 |title=Hon. Sir Frederick Richard Jordan KCMG, KC, BA, LLB |publisher=State Archives}}

Jordan was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 19 August 1907 and practised from Selborne Chambers. He primarily practised in equity work. He took silk as a King's Counsel in 1928. He also lectured part-time in the law school of the University of Sydney.

He married Bertha Maud Clay on 9 January 1928 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church,{{efn|now a constituent church of the Uniting Church in Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/st_stephens_presbyterian_church_macquarie_street|title=St Stephen's Presbyterian church Macquarie Street|first=Mark|last=Dunn|year=2008}}}} on Macquarie Street, Sydney.

Jordan was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 1 February 1934 in succession to Sir Philip Street.{{cite news |title=Appointment of Chief Justice |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page13997844 |newspaper=NSW Gazette |date=12 January 1934 |page=115 |via=National Library of Australia}} Jordan had not been a judge before his appointment and at the time had been a senior equity barrister in New South Wales. He was Chief Justice between 1934 and 1949. This was a difficult time for the court with a shortage of resources and manpower due to the Second World War, although Jordan's administrative skills helped the court through this period. He was appointed KCMG in 1936, two years after his appointment as Chief Justice. Jordan was dominant when presiding on a Full Court, with a reputation for being remote, devoid of "human passions and that he was only at home when plumbing the depths of Equity or when writing judgments replete with citation of authority and exposition of legal principle"{{cite web|author=Byers M.H. |author-link1=Maurice Byers |title=Recollections of Sir Frederick Jordan |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWBarAssocNews/1991/7.pdf}} [1991] NSW Bar Association News 7. and whose public utterances were said to be limited to "a few well-frozen words".Attributed to Alroy M Cohen QC in {{cite book |editor=Bennett J.M. |title=A history of the New South Wales Bar

|year=1969 |publisher=Law Book Co |isbn=0455121400 |page=231}}

Jordan in his time as Chief Justice sat on many cases. Perhaps the most notable case was Commissioner of Railways v Small.{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|29|1938|litigants=Commissioner for Railways v Small |parallelcite=(1938) 38 SR (NSW) 564 |date=27 July 1938 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. This case involved the issuing of a subpoena to a person not involved in the court proceedings. A subpoena issued in these circumstances is usually called a "fishing expedition" as the legal counsel involved in issuing the subpoena is fishing around for evidence that may or may not be there. The following passage is often cited in court decisions around Australia where Jordan said:

"The writ of subpoena duces tecum may be addressed to a stranger to the case or to a party. If it be addressed to a stranger, it must specify with reasonable particularity the documents which are required to be produced. A subpoena duces tecum ought not to be issued to such a person requiring him to search for and produce all such documents as he may have in his possession or power relating to a particular subject matter".

Another enduring judgment is in the appeal considered in R v Geddes.{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|35|1936|litigants=R v Geddes |parallelcite=(1936) 36 SR (NSW) 554; (1936) 53 {{abbr|WN (NSW)|Weekly Notes (New South Wales)}} 157b |date=14 August 1936 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. This decision is often cited in criminal appeals.{{cite web |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=36+SR+(NSW)+554 |title=R v Geddes LawCite Search}} Jordan held that after making allowance for any relevant considerations, there has to be a reasonable proportionality between a sentence and the circumstances of the crime, and that any sentence should be appropriate to the particular crime having regard to the gravity of the offence viewed objectively. He concluded that it was easier to see that a wrong conclusion had been applied rather than arrive at any fixed rules for solving the problem. He concluded with the classic line "the only golden rule is that there is no golden rule'.

Another notable case is In re Will of Gilbert (decd).{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|24|1946|litigants=In re Will of Gilbert (decd) |parallelcite=(1946) 46 SR (NSW) 318; (1946) 63 {{abbr|WN (NSW)|Weekly Notes (New South Wales)}} 176 |date=22 May 1946 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. This was an early case in which the Supreme Court said it would not unnecessarily interfere with interlocutory orders on an appeal. Jordan said "... I am of opinion that...there is a material difference between an exercise of discretion on a point of practice or procedure and an exercise of discretion which determines substantive rights. In the former class of case, if a tight rein were not kept upon interference with the orders of judges of first instance, the result would be disastrous to the proper administration of justice. The disposal of cases could be delayed interminably, and costs heaped up indefinitely, if a litigant with a long purse or a litigious disposition could, at will, in effect transfer all exercises of discretion in interlocutory applications from a judge in Chambers to a Court of Appeal."

Perhaps the funniest quote is in Ex parte Hebburn Ltd; Re Kearsley Shire Council.{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|24|1947|litigants=Ex parte Hebburn Ltd; Re Kearsley Shire Council |parallelcite=(1947) 47 SR (NSW) 416 at p. 420 |date=14 May 1947 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. Jordan remarked in that case that "there are mistakes and mistakes".cited by President Keith Mason in {{cite AustLII|NSWSC|144|1997|litigants=Holt v Cox |date=18 April 1997 |parallelcite=(1997) 23 {{abbr|ACSR|Australian Company and Security Reports}} 590}}.

Chief Justice Jim Spigelman writing in the Quadrant magazine,{{cite journal|last=Spigelman |first=J.J. |author-link1=James Spigelman |title=Australia's Greatest Jurist |url=http://quadrant.org.au/php/article_view.php?article_id=502 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818002848/http://quadrant.org.au/php/article_view.php?article_id=502 |archive-date=18 August 2008 |journal=Quadrant |volume=47 |number=7–8 |date=July 2003}} noted an interesting case of Browning v The Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission of NSW.{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|19|1947|litigants=Browning v The Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission of NSW |parallelcite=(1947) 47 SR (NSW) 395; (1947) 64 {{abbr|WN (NSW)|Weekly Notes (New South Wales)}} 120 |date=22 April 1947 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. This concerned a decision of the then Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission to deny in 1946 an Italian-born naturalised Australian a water license for irrigation. This was a time when irrigation was being introduced into the Riverina area of New South Wales as a result of the Snowy Mountains water scheme. The denial of the licence was based on policy considerations that licenses would not be granted to Italians for a number of policy reasons. Firstly, they had been enemy aliens during the Second World War. Secondly, it was considered that Italians were not good farmers. Lastly, it was undesirable for Italians to aggregate in the irrigation area. Jordan and the other members of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of New South Wales allowed Browning's application. Spigelman notes that in "blunt words" Jordan rejected the commission's use of the three considerations as it was "no business" of the commission to consider those matters in the granting of a license. The commission appealed to the High Court of Australia.{{cite AustLII|HCA|21|1947|litigants=Water Conservation & Irrigation Commission (NSW) v Browning |parallelcite=[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1947/21.pdf (1947) 74 CLR 492] |date=12 June 1947 |courtname=auto}}. The commission's appeal was unanimously allowed and Jordan's decision overturned. Spigelman notes that this was perhaps the low point of High Court jurisprudence particularly as the Chief Justice of the High Court, Latham, supported the commission's policy to exclude immigrants.

Sir Owen Dixon spoke of Jordan saying that it was a tragedy that Sir Frederick Jordan had not been appointed to the High Court stating that "I really do not know what, if anything happened; but at all events he was not appointed and by one of those curious twists which seem to touch the finest natures, this highly scholarly man and a very great lawyer eventually took some queer views about federation. But I do not think he would have taken them if he had been living amongst us.""Retirement of the Chief Justice" (1964) 110 CLR pp. X-XI.

Jordan was appointed as the Administrator of the Government of NSW between 28 October 1937 and 1 November 1937.{{efn|Jordan, as the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed as the administrator in the absence of both the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, and the Lieutenant-Governor, former Chief Justice Sir Philip Street.{{cite news |title=Proclamation. Appointment of F.R. Jordan as Administrator of the Government of the State |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page15788137 |newspaper=NSW Gazette |date=28 October 1937 |page=4345 |via=National Library of Australia}}}} Sir Phillip Street died in 1938 and Jordan was appointed to replace him as Lieutenant-Governor of NSW, and Jordan was required to administer the Government of NSW in 1946 in the period between the resignation of Lord Wakehurst on 8 January and the appointment of Sir John Northcott on 1 August.{{NSW Parliamentary Record |part=1 |accessdate=2020-10-22 |page=2}} Jordan became seriously ill in 1949 and died in his home at Vaucluse on 4 November 1949. He was accorded a state funeral.{{cite web |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-365725473/view?partId=nla.obj-365728034#page/n0/mode/1up |title=Order of service for the funeral of the late honourable Sir Frederick Richard Jordan, K.C.M.G., B.A., LL.B |date=7 November 1949 |via=Trove}} He was succeeded in office by Kenneth Whistler Street.

Frederick Jordan chambers in Martin Place is named after Jordan.{{cite web |url=http://www.fjc.net.au/history.html |title=FJC History |publisher=Frederick Jordan Chambers}}

Jordan's notes of lectures delivered in the Law School of the University of Sydney were subsequently published as books,{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=Chapters on Equity in New South Wales |date=1921–1947}}{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=Administration of the estates of deceased persons |year=1935–1948}}{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=General principles of the administration of justice |year=1944}}{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=The Admiralty jurisdiction in New South Wales |year=1937}} which were a major contribution to the practice of equity in Australia. These were reprinted in 1983 as "Sir Frederick Jordan Select Legal Papers".{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=Select Legal Papers |year=1983 |isbn=0949553050 |publisher=Legal Books |publication-date=1983}} The authority of the books have been little doubted since Jordan first published them all those years ago. The foreword was written by Roddy Meagher {{post-nominals|country=AUS|QC}}, then a leading barrister and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Sydney University, who stated that an indication of the 'current utility' of Sir Frederick's work was the reliance on them in recent High Court decisions,{{cite book |author=Meagher R.P. |author-link1=Roddy Meagher |title=Sir Frederick Jordan: Select Legal Papers |isbn=0949553050 |publisher=Legal Books |publication-date=1983 |chapter=Foreword|year=1983 }} by reference to Legione v Hatley,{{cite AustLII|HCA|11|1983|litigants=Legione v Hatley |parallelcite=(1983) 152 CLR 406 at 446 per Mason and Deane JJ}}. and Hewett v Court.{{cite AustLII|HCA|7|1983|litigants=Hewett v Court |parallelcite=(1983) 149 CLR 639 at 665-6 per Deane J}}.

On a lighter note, Roddy Meagher, by then a judge on the NSW Court of Appeal, argued that one particular footnote in "Chapters On Equity",{{cite book |author=Jordan F.R. |title=Chapters on Equity in New South Wales |date=1947 |edition=6th}} page 52, footnote (e). was wrong.Chief Commissioner of Stamp Duties v ISVT Pty Limited (1998) 45 NSWLR 639 at p 654.{{citation|title=Sir Frederick Jordan's footnote |last=Meagher |first=R |author-link1=Roddy Meagher}} (1999) 15 Journal of Contract Law 1. Meagher JA stated that "Great as is the homage we all owe to Sir Frederick Jordan, one must state that the footnote is nonsense. It has, of course, been approved by the High Court on about four occasions ... but that does not convert it into sense". Meagher JA then sets out why he says the footnote was wrong. Chief Justice Spigelman would later observe that the High Court judgments, to which Meagher JA referred with such scorn, were those mentioned in the foreword by Meagher JA as an indication of the 'current utility' of Sir Frederick's great work.{{cite web|title=The Hon Justice R P Meagher |author=Spigelman J |author-link1=James Spigelman |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWBarAssocNews/2004/21.pdf}} [2004] NSW Bar Association News 21.

An article by Justice David Ipp written in a similar vein discusses one of Jordan's decision on malicious prosecution,{{cite AustLII|NSWStRp|33|1938|litigants=Mitchell v John Heine and Son Ltd |parallelcite=(1938) 38 SR (NSW) 466 |date=23 August 1938 |courtname=Supreme Court (Full Court) (NSW)}}. and humorously suggests that Jordan may have been "recalcitrant".{{citation|last=Ipp |first=D.A. |author-link1=David Ipp |title=Must a Prosecutor Believe that the Accused is Guilty? Or, Was Sir Frederick Jordan Being Recalcitrant?}} (2005) 79 Australian Law Journal 233.

Jordan was widely read and wrote notes as a review and impression of what he read as well as a collection of quotations and epigrams recording his observation of analogies and parallels found in literary works written across centuries in English, Greek, Latin, French, Italian and German. His long-time friend Sir Lionel Lindsay had these published under the titles Appreciations and Parallels.{{cite book |author=Sir Frederick Jordan |title=Appreciations and Parallels |publisher=Ure Smith |year=1950}}

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• Who's Who in Australia 1935, p. 262

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{{succession box |title= Chief Justice of New South Wales | before=Sir Philip Street | after=Sir Kenneth Street | years=1934–1949}}

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{{succession box |title= Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales|before= Sir Philip Street|after= Sir Kenneth Street|years= 1938–1949}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Frederick Richard}}

Category:1881 births

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Category:Australian King's Counsel

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Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

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