Nicholas Alexander Fenwick
1806-1863
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Nicholas Alexander Fenwick by Vivian Hill
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If you stand on the elevated front entrance of Geelong Magistrate's
Court you look down Fenwick Street.
Nicholas Fenwick was not a lawyer. He was the second Police Magistrate
appointed to Geelong and therefore relevant to the history of Geelong Lawyers.
The first police magistrate appointed, Foster Fyans, resented being transferred
to Portland to make way for Fenwick. Judging by Governor Gipps' letter
to Superintendent LaTrobe 5/2/1840 Fyans' transfer was the result of a
mistake as to what his wishes were. Fenwick had already been a police
magistrate in N.S.W. Early magistrates like Lonsdale in Melbourne
and Fyans and Fenwick in Geelong had a much wider range of duties than
later magistrates. They led investigations into crime and were in
charge of police. The Governor required a confidential monthly report
of events in their jurisdiction. Judicial duties related to criminal
matters a Justice of the Peace could preside over. In Fenwick's case
he was also appointed a Commissioner of the Court of Requests. That
was a court hearing civil claims where the jurisdiction was limited and
the parties appeared in person. He held these posts from 1845 to
1850.
Arrangement of material
The list below describes material held in the Nicholas Alexander Fenwick
archive box, which is located at 340.099452 Fenwic Hil/Naf on the shelves in
the Geelong Lawyers' Collection within the Special Collection at the Waterfront
campus. The material has been arranged in date order.
| Date |
Title |
Item no. |
| 1842 |
Photograph of Police Lockup, South Geelong
[Click on image to enlarge it] |
NF5 |
| 1973 |
Photocopied extract from 'History of Kew' |
NF4 |
| 18/1/1992 |
Cutting from Geelong Advertiser's 150 years ago section re Police Magistrate,
Mr. Fenwick |
NF1 |
| 3/1995 |
Photocopy of biography by D. Wight in Geelong Biographical Register
published by Geelong Historical Society |
NF2 |
| 6/2000 |
2 photographs of Fenwick Street, Geelong |
NF6 |
|
Biography by Ruth A. Hill
[First page of biography. Click on image to enlarge it] |
NF3 |
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