Douglas Menzies

The Right Honourable Sir Douglas Menzies KBE
Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office 12 June 1958 – 29 November 1974
Nominated by	Robert Menzies
Preceded by	Sir William Webb
Succeeded by	Lionel Murphy
Personal details
Born	7 September 1907 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died	29 November 1974 (aged 67) Sydney, Australia
Spouse	Helen Jean Borland (died 1966)
Relations	Hugh Menzies (uncle) James Menzies (uncle) Robert Menzies (cousin)
Children	Catherine Anne Money

Sir Douglas Ian Menzies KBE (7 September 1907 – 29 November 1974) was an Australian judge, serving as a Justice of the High Court of Australia. He was also Chancellor of Monash University from 1968 until his death in 1974.

Early life

Menzies was born in Ballarat, Victoria, to Annie Wilson (née Copeland) and the Reverend Francis Menzies. He was a nephew of Hugh and James Menzies and a first cousin of Sir Robert Menzies.

Menzies was educated at Hobart High School and Devonport High School in Tasmania, before returning to Victoria to study at the University of Melbourne. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, having been awarded the Jessie Leggatt and E. J. B. Nunn Scholarships, and having won the Supreme Court of Victoria's Prize in Law.

Legal career

Menzies was admitted as a solicitor in 1930 and to the Victorian Bar in 1932, where he practised as a barrister. From 1941 to 1945, he was secretary to the Defence and Chiefs of Staff Committees, and from 1941 to 1950 he was a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. From 1956 to 1958, Menzies was the president of the Law Council of Australia, and in 1958, served as president of the Victorian Bar Council.

High Court

Menzies was appointed to the bench of the High Court on 12 June 1958, by the government of Robert Menzies, his cousin. Despite this close family connection, the appointment caused no political commentary.^[1] Later that year he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1963, he was elevated to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and in 1968 was made the Chancellor of Monash University. He served on the bench of the High Court until his death on 29 November 1974.

Menzies collapsed suddenly at the New South Wales Bar's annual Bench and Bar Dinner and was taken to nearby Sydney Hospital. According to a story told by retired High Court Justice Michael Kirby, Menzies died three places ahead of Kirby, in the servery line in the Bar's common room. He was cremated.

Personal life

Menzies married Helen Jean Borland in 1936. She predeceased him in 1966. He was survived by a son and three daughters, one of whom is biochemist and scientist Catherine Anne Money.