Biographical entry Latham, John Greig (1877 - 1964)

Sir

Born
26 August 1877
Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia
Died
25 July 1964
Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Chief Justice, Diplomat, Lawyer, Politician and Writer of Inscription

Details

John Greig Latham was a politician, diplomat and chief justice of the High Court. Elected to the House of Representatives, Latham was member for Kooyong (Victoria) for the Nationalist/United Australia Party Member 1922-34. Menzies succeeded Latham as member for Kooyong. Latham served as Attorney-General (1925-29) in the Bruce-Page government and (1932-34) in the Lyons government. He was Leader of the Nationalist Party Opposition from 1929 to 1931 during the Scullin Labor government. Latham was Chief Justice of the High Court (1935-52) with an interval from 1940 to 1941 when he was appointed Australia's first Minister to Japan. He was chancellor of the University of Melbourne (1939-41), president of the Australian-American Association (1951-64) and president of the Free Library Movement of Victoria (1937-48).

Source

Macintyre, Stuart. Latham, Sir John Greig (1877-1964), Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Published in hard copy 1986, accessed online 8 July 2013.