Adrian Knox

Sir Adrian Knox KCMG, KC (29 November 1863 – 27 April 1932), Australian judge, was the second Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, sitting on the bench of the High Court from 1919 to 1930.

Education

Knox was born in Sydney on 29 November 1863, the son of English migrant parents who owned the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. Knox was educated first in Sydney, and then in the United Kingdom, attending the Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1885. Shortly after, he was admitted to the Inner Temple, where English barristers are called to the bar.

Legal career

Knox returned to Australia in 1886 and joined his brother George in practising law. When George died in 1888, Adrian took over the practice, and soon became one of the most successful lawyers at the bar. Between 1888–90, he reported equity cases for the New South Wales Law Reports.

In 1894, Knox was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, in the (no longer existing) seat of Woollahra. After being reelected in 1895, Knox retired from the parliament in 1898. At this time, he was also a director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society and a founding member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust.