Peter Faucett

{{Short description|Politician, barrister and judge in New South Wales, Australia}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Peter Faucett

|honorific-suffix =

|image = Mr Justice Peter Faucett.jpg

|office1 = Solicitor General

|term_start1 = 16 October 1863

|term_end1 = 2 February 1865

|predecessor1 = John Hargrave

|successor1 = John Hargrave

|office2 = Judge of the Supreme Court (NSW)

|term_start2 = 4 October 1865

|term_end2 = 8 February 1888

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1813|1|1}}

|birth_place = Dublin, Ireland

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1894|5|22|1813}}

|death_place = Five Dock, New South Wales

|resting_place = Petersham Cemetery

|spouse = Frances Clements

}}

Peter Faucett (1813 – 22 May 1894) was an Australian barrister, judge and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1856 and 1865. He held the position of Solicitor General in the first government of James Martin. He was a judge of the Supreme Court between 1865 and 1888 and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1888 and 1894.

Early life

Faucett was born in Dublin on 29 September 1813, the son Catherine {{nee}} Cook and Peter Faucett, a blacksmith from Ballyconnell, County Cavan.[https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/digital/Kings%20Inns%20Admission%20Papers%201607-1867/Kings%20Inns%20Admission%20Papers%201607-1867.pdf] He was educated at Trinity College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.{{Cite Australasia|Faucett, Hon. Peter}} He was called to the Irish Bar in 1845 and emigrated to Sydney in 1852 and was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 19 December 1852 where he established a large, private legal practice, regularly appearing in criminal proceedings.

Parliamentary career

Faucett was as a member of the first New South Wales Legislative Assembly which was elected after the establishment of responsible self-government in 1856. He was elected as the member for King and Georgiana and retained the seat, unopposed, at the 1858 election.{{cite NSW election |title=Elections for the District of King and Georgiana |year=DistrictIndexes |district=King and Georgiana |access-date=2021-09-21}} Faucett was not a candidate at the 1859 election and was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1859 East Maitland by-election caused by the resignation of Joseph Chambers who had accepted a position as Crown Prosecutor in the Western Districts of New South Wales.{{cite NSW election |title=1859 East Maitland by-election |year=1859 |district=MaitlandEast_1 |access-date=3 September 2020}} Faucett was also unsuccessful at a ministerial by-election for the four member seat of East Sydney in November 1859 but eventually re-entered parliament as the member for that seat after winning the 1860 by-election caused by the resignation of Charles Cowper. However he was subsequently defeated at the general election held later that year.{{cite NSW election|title=Elections for the District of East Sydney |year=DistrictIndexes |district=EastSydney |access-date=23 August 2020}} King and Georgiana had been replaced by Yass Plains and Faucett again entered parliament as the member for the region at the 1861 by-election caused by the resignation, due to ill-health of the incumbent Henry O'Brien. He retained the seat until his resignation from the Assembly in 1865 to accept an appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.{{cite NSW Parliament |title =Mr Peter Faucett (1813–1894) |id=391 |former=Yes |access-date=16 June 2019}}{{cite NSW election |title=Elections for the District of Yass Plains |year=DistrictIndexes |district=Yass Plains |access-date=12 March 2020}}

Faucett's only ministerial appointment was as Solicitor General in the first government of James Martin, at a time when the Solicitor General often the conducted criminal prosecutions.{{citation |first=K |last=Mason |title=The Office of Solicitor General for New South Wales |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWBarAssocNews/1988/8.pdf}} (1988 Autumn) Bar News: Journal of the NSW Bar Association 22. It has been said that his career in public office was unspectacular but he had an earnest desire to see justice done and was a "plain-spoken, sober-sided, solid man".{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=faucett-peter-3503 |title=Faucett, Peter (1813-1894) |first=W B |last=Perringnon |access-date=2021-06-12}}

Later life and death

Faucett was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court on 4 October 1865, serving until 8 February 1888 when he resigned due to ill health. In April he accepted a life appointment to the Legislative Council,{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222124772 |title=Peter Faucett appointed to the Legislative Council |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=234 |date=12 April 1888 |access-date=5 September 2021 |page=2613 |via=Trove}} which he retained until his death.

He married Frances Susan Clements on 21 January 1862 at St Mary's Cathedral, however she died in childbirth on 3 June 1866.{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13132172 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 June 1866 |access-date=21 September 2021 |page=1 |via=Trove}}

He had an intense interest in education. He was a Member of the Denominational School Board from 6 March 1854 to July 1864. He was a member of the Committee of Management for the Institute for Destitute Children at Parramatta in 1859. He was a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney from 1859 to 1894 and an honorary examiner in law from 1869 to at least 1891. He was a member of the council to establish The Women's College at the University of Sydney in 1891–1892. On 21 August 1857 Faucett introduced a petition and a bill to the New South Wales Parliament for the establishment of St John's College at the university. He was also a Fellow of the College Council from 1858 to 1863. Whilst in Parliament, Faucett advocated state support for religious denominations and their schools, no matter the denomination. He was also involved in the establishment of St Vincent's Hospital.{{cite web |title= PER-22 Faucett, Peter |url=https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/ORGANISATIONS1006516 |publisher=NSW State Records & Archives |access-date=2021-09-21}} {{CC-notice|cc=by4}}

He died at Five Dock on {{death date and age|df=yes|1894|5|22|1813}},{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163327467 |title=The Late Hon. P. Faucett. |newspaper=The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |date=2 June 1894 |access-date=21 September 2021 |page=1118 |via=Trove}} survived by his daughter Frances (aged {{age in years|3 June 1866|22 May 1894}}).