Mostyn Hanger
{{Short description|Australian judge (1908–1980)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Mostyn Hanger, on his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, 1953.jpg
| caption = Mostyn Hanger, on his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, 1953
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|KBE}}
| order = 12th
| office = Chief Justice of Queensland
| term_start = 12 May 1971
| term_end = July 1977
| predecessor = William Mack
| successor = Charles Wanstall
| office2 = Administrator of Queensland
| term_start2 = 9 March 1972
| term_end2 = 21 March 1972
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| office3 =
| term_start3 = 20 March 1977
| term_end3 = 21 April 1977
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| birth_date = 3 January 1908
| birth_place = Rockhampton, Queensland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|8|11|1908|1|3|df=y}}
| death_place = St Lucia, Queensland
| party =
| relations =
| spouse = Greta Lumley Robertson
| children =
| residence =
| occupation =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| name = Sir Mostyn Hanger
| honorific_prefix = The Honourable
}}
Sir (John) Mostyn Hanger {{post-nominals|country=AUS|KBE}} (3 January 1908{{spaced ndash}}11 August 1980) was a judge in Queensland, Australia. He was Chief Justice of Queensland and Administrator of Queensland (deputy for the Governor of Queensland).
Early years
Hanger was born on 3 January 1908 at Rockhampton to parents Thomas Hanger and Myfanwy Granville-Jones.{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|last=White
|first=M. W. D.
|authorlink=
|year=1996
|id=A140422b
|title= Hanger, Sir Mostyn (1908–1980)
|accessdate=13 October 2008 }}
Australian Dictionary of Biography He was the second of five children, including the playwright Eunice Hanger.{{Citation|last=Fotheringham|first=Richard|title=Hanger, Eunice (1911–1972)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hanger-eunice-10407|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|language=en|access-date=2022-01-08|archive-date=3 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203191130/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hanger-eunice-10407|url-status=live}} He was educated at Gympie High School where his father was the headmaster. Hanger became captain of the school and later dux of the school in 1925. He won a scholarship to attend and study at the University of Queensland where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1929. Later, he obtained a Masters of Law in 1941 from the University of Queensland and lectured in company law at the university.
He married Greta Lumley Robertson at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Brisbane on 8 April 1936.
Wartime service
Hanger enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 25 May 1942 and became a flight lieutenant. He served in Merauke in Dutch New Guinea until 2 May 1945.
Legal career
After leaving University, he obtained a position as a clerk in the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was called to the Queensland bar on 21 November 1930, although he did not practice as a barrister until 1932.
Hanger was appointed a King's Counsel in 1950. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland on 23 July 1953. He was President of the Industrial Court of Queensland between 1962 and 1971.
He was appointed senior puisne judge in April 1970 to the Supreme Court. He became Chief Justice of Queensland on 12 May 1971.
While Chief Justice, he was Administrator of Queensland between 9 March 1972 and 21 March 1972 and also between 20 March 1977 and 21 April 1977.{{cite web |url=http://www.qld.gov.au/about-queensland/history/queensland-governors.html |title=Queensland Governors |website=Qld.gov.au |access-date=30 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105063139/http://www.qld.gov.au/about-queensland/history/queensland-governors.html |archive-date=5 November 2011 |url-status=dead }} He was also appointed deputy governor of Queensland for a time in 1973.
He retired in July 1977 after being Chief Justice for seven years. He found that he spent less time in court hearing and deciding cases and more time on administration. He said that this "was work which was not to my liking and more and more I found that what had been a pleasure was becoming a chore".{{cite web |url=http://archive.sclqld.org.au/judgepub/2001/CJ_EasterSeminar-roleoftheCJ0601.pdf |title=The Role of Chief Justice of Queensland |author=Chief Justice Paul de Jersey AC |access-date=30 September 2018 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404083441/https://archive.sclqld.org.au/judgepub/2001/CJ_EasterSeminar-roleoftheCJ0601.pdf |url-status=live }}
He died on 11 August 1980 at the Brisbane suburb of St Lucia.
Cases
A decision in which he ruled against re-employing forty five men by Mount Isa Mines led to an unsuccessful attempt to remove him from the court. At the time, his wife held shares in the company. The decision was reviewed by the full court of the Supreme Court.R v Industrial Court and Hanger (President of Industrial Court) and Mount Isa Mines Ltd {{URL|1=www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=1966+QdR+245|2=
In 1974 he heard the case of Lambert v McIntyre.Lambert v McIntyre; Ex parte Lambert [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=1975+Qd+R+349
In another notable case, Hanger ruled that "compulsory unionism" clauses in industrial awards could not be ordered by the State Industrial Commission.
Family
Sir Mostyn Hanger was survived by his wife, daughter, and three sons. His son John Mostyn Hanger, born on 21 June 1937, followed in his footsteps and became a Judge of the District Court of Queensland, serving in that role from 1976 to 1993. In 1993, John Mostyn Hanger (Jnr) was appointed to the role of Senior Judge of the District Courts, and he served in that role until his retirement in 2001.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Supreme Court Library - Queensland|url=https://www.sclqld.org.au/judicial-papers/judicial-profiles/profiles/jmhanger|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712003945/https://www.sclqld.org.au/judicial-papers/judicial-profiles/profiles/jmhanger|archive-date=12 July 2022|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.sclqld.org.au}}
Honours
Hanger was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1973.
Opera Australia award the Sir Mostyn Hanger Opera Scholarship each year in honour of Hanger, and Sir Mostyn Hanger Chambers in Southport also bear his name.
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite web
|title=Sir Mostyn Hanger KBE
|publisher=Supreme Court of Queensland Library
|year=2003
|url=http://www.sclqld.org.au/schp/exhibitions/qldbar/personalities/text2.htm
|accessdate=13 October 2008 }}
External links
{{commons category|Mostyn Hanger}}
- [http://archive.sclqld.org.au/Digital_Photo_Collection/Judges/Hanger/Hanger%20M/c0001615086.jpg Queensland Supreme Court Library photo of Hanger in Judicial Robes]
- {{cite QSA Item|1431963|Photograph of an oil painting of Chief Justice Sir Mostyn Hanger of the Supreme Court}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef |before=William Mack}}
{{s-ttl |title=Chief Justice of Queensland |years=1977–1982}}
{{s-aft|after=Charles Wanstall}}
{{s-end}}
{{Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanger, Mostyn}}
Category:Chief justices of Queensland
Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire