Honorary awards

The Right Honourable Sir George Edward Rich, KCMG

The degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) was conferred upon the Right Honourable Sir George Edward Rich at the ceremony of conferring of honorary degrees held on 29 August 1952 as part of the University of Sydney's Centenary celebrations.

The Dean of the Faculty of Law Professor K O Shatwell (second from left) presenting the Right Honourable Sir George Edward Rich to the Chancellor Sir Charles Bickerton Blackburn for the honorary award, a Sydney Morning Herald photo, with copies held by the University of Sydney Archives.

Citation

Presented to the Chancellor, Sir Charles Bickerton Blackburn by the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor K O Shatwell:

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR GEORGE EDWARD RICH, K.C.M.G., M.A., formerly a Justice and Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Mr. Chancellor, I present to you George Edward Rich, a member of Her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council and of the Judicial Committee of that Council, Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, one of Her Majesty's Counsel, a Master of Arts of this University who served his Sovereign in high judicial office for 39 years - a record surely unparalleled. His quality was early attested by his academic honours, and bv such activities as the foundation of Hermes and the Universitv Boat Club. For his contribution to the establishment of evening courses in this University and his part in the foundation of the Women's College, our graduates owe him a great debt, while as the first lecturer in Equity in the Faculty of Law, he made, for twenty years, a notable contribution to legal education. In his chosen calling the record is public knowledge and speaks for itself. Appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1911, he passed from it to the High Court in 1913, where his judgments contributed to the fabric of the law until 1950, while his English brethren on occasion profited by his participation in the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Mr. Chancellor, I present George Edward Rich for admission to the Degree of Doctor of Laws in this University.

From "The University of Sydney Centenary Celebrations August 26 - August 31, 1952" compiled by the Office of Information and Public Relations. Allan Gamble, Information and Public Relations Officer.