Samuel Griffith

The Right Honourable Sir Samuel Griffith GCMG PC KC
Chief Justice of Australia
In office 5 October 1903 – 17 October 1919
Nominated by	Alfred Deakin
Appointed by	Lord Northcote
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Sir Adrian Knox
Chief Justice of Queensland
In office 13 March 1893 – 4 October 1903
Nominated by	Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Preceded by	Sir Charles Lilley
Succeeded by	Pope Cooper
9th Premier of Queensland
In office 12 August 1890 – 13 March 1893
Governor	Sir Henry Norman
Preceded by	Boyd Dunlop Morehead
Succeeded by	Sir Thomas McIlwraith
In office 13 November 1883 – 13 June 1888
Governor	Sir Anthony Musgrave
Preceded by	Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Succeeded by	Sir Thomas McIlwraith
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
In office 13 June 1888 – 29 April 1893
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	John James Kingsbury
Constituency	Brisbane North
In office 15 November 1878 – 13 June 1888
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Abolished
Constituency	North Brisbane
In office 25 November 1873 – 14 November 1878
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Samuel Grimes
Constituency	Oxley
In office 3 April 1872 – 25 November 1873
Preceded by	Robert Travers Atkin
Succeeded by	William Fryar
Constituency	East Moreton
Personal details
Born	(1845-06-21)21 June 1845 Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales
Died	9 August 1920(1920-08-09) (aged 75) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting place	Toowong Cemetery
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Julia Thomson ​ (m. 1870)​
Relations	Mary Harriett Griffith (sister)
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Politician, judge

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG PC KC (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and two terms as Premier of Queensland, and played a key role in the drafting of the Australian Constitution.

Griffith was born in Wales, arriving in the Moreton Bay district of New South Wales (but now in the state of Queensland) at the age of eight. He attended the University of Sydney, and after further legal training was called to the bar in 1867. Griffith was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1872. He served as Attorney-General from 1874 to 1878, and subsequently became the leader of the parliament's liberal faction. Griffith's terms as premier ran from 1883 to 1888 and from 1890 to 1893. He led the Australian delegation to the 1887 Colonial Conference and took a keen interest in external affairs, giving financial and administrative support to the newly annexed Territory of Papua and establishing the Queensland Maritime Defence Force. Domestically, he had a reputation as a radical and was initially seen as an ally of the labour movement; this changed after his government's intervention in the 1891 shearers' strike.

In 1893, Griffith retired from politics to head the Supreme Court of Queensland. He was frequently asked to assist in drafting legislation, and the Queensland criminal code – the first in Australia – was mostly his creation. Griffith was an ardent federationist, and with Andrew Inglis Clark wrote the draft constitution that was presented to the 1891 constitutional convention. Many of his contributions were preserved in the final constitution enacted in 1900. Griffith was involved in the drafting of the federal Judiciary Act 1903, which established the High Court of Australia, and was subsequently nominated by Alfred Deakin to become the inaugural Chief Justice. He presided over a number of constitutional cases, though some of his interpretations were rejected by later courts. He was also called on to advise governors-general during political instability. Griffith University and the Canberra suburb of Griffith are named in his honour.