Alfred Paxton Backhouse

Alfred Paxton Backhouse (25 May 1851 – 1 August 1939) was an Australian judge of the District Court of New South Wales, and occasional acting Supreme Court judge. He presided over the trials of the leaders of the 1892 Broken Hill miners' strike, and was an active faculty member of the University of Sydney for over fifty years.

Early life Backhouse was born in Ipswich, Suffolk in England in May 1851. He was one of seventeen children to Benjamin Backhouse (1829–1904), an architect, and Elizabeth Prentice, née Fuller. His middle name, Paxton, was selected to honour the creator of The Great Exhibition's Crystal Palace – Joseph Paxton – as it was on show during the year of his birth. followed by a Master's degree in Arts in 1875. He presided over the trials of the 7 leaders of the 1892 Broken Hill miners' strike. who was convicted of conspiracy in 1895.

He retired from the District Court in May 1921, aged 70 years, as a result of the passage of the Judges Retirement Act 1918 which introduced the retirement age.

Backhouse also served on the Senate of the University of Sydney from 1887 until his death, having been made a lifelong member despite retiring from professional life in 1921.