Fellows of Senate

His Honour Judge Francis Edward Rogers KC

An early graduate of the Univerity of Sydney (BA 1861, MA 1863 and LLB 1867), His Honour Judge Francis Edward Rogers was an elected Fellow of Senate between 1889 and 1913.

Profile

(1841 - 1925)
MA LLB Sydney, KC
Fellow of Senate 1889 - 1913

His early days

Francis Edward Rogers was born on 24 February 1841 in Sydney in a building opposite to the site now occupied by the Supreme Court building. He was son of Edward Rogers, an English solicitor who became clerk of the peace, and his wife Eliza, née Taylor. His grandfather Richard Rogers was the Imperial storekeeper in the early days of the colony.

He received his earlier education at the Normal Institute, Sydney, (Principal: Rev Thomas Aitken); at the school of the Rev John Milner; and at an educational establishment conducted by Mr H F Waymouth.

His student days at the University of Sydney

Amongst his contemporaries at the University of Sydney were Cecil Stephen, who became an eminent barrister; James Garland, solicitor; W P Cowishaw, solicitor in practice in New Zealand; Henry Chamberlain Russell, CMG, the Government Astronomer of New South Wales; and the late Dr Quaife, a medical man of some note.

In 1861 Rogers took the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1863 that of Master of Arts with a gold medal in chemistry and experimental physics, and in 1867 graduated Bachelor of Laws, one of the first students who took that degree at Sydney University.

His career

Rogers was admitted to the New South Wales Bar on 1 March 1864 and to the Queensland Bar later that year. His practice concentrated on criminal law and he became a crown prosecutor in January 1869. In 1882 he resigned as a prosecutor, diversified his practice and on 13 December 1887 took silk.

He became president of a new Land Court in January 1890 but resigned after three years, because the Government refused to redeem its promise to raise the position to the status of a Supreme Court Judge.

He resumed Bar practice but was compelled to relinquish duties owing to a recurrence of a former illness. He therefore accepted the less arduous position of a District Court Judge for the south-western district, which he held until he retired in 1917. He also presided over a number of royal commissions and was repeatedly seconded as an acting judge of the Supreme Court but never appointed.

Rogers died on 11 July 1925 aged 84.

From the Australian Dictionary of Biography and articles in the Sydney Morning Herald.

His membership of Senate

Rogers was an elected Fellow of Senate between 1889 and 1913.