Humphrey O'Leary

Sir Humphrey Francis O'Leary (12 February 1886 – 16 October 1953) was the seventh Chief Justice of New Zealand, from 1946 to 1953.

Early life and family Born in Redwoodtown in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough, in 1886, his father, an Irish immigrant, was a blacksmith who had migrated to Masterton. When his father heard that one of his sons was not doing well at the local Catholic school, he sent his son to Masterton Public. From that time, although he remained faithful to the Catholic religion, Humphrey O'Leary attended state schools. He gained a Wellington Education Board scholarship and Queen's Scholarship in 1899, which enabled him to attend Wellington College. There his academic ability, outgoing personality and sporting prowess made him a popular student. The Queen's Scholarship also paid for three years at university and he enrolled in 1902 to study law at Victoria College.

In 1912, O'Leary married Lillian Gallagher, and the couple went on to have one son.

O'Leary was president of the Wellington Law Society from 1921 to 1922, and the New Zealand Law Society between 1935 and 1946. He also served on the Victoria University College Council and the University of New Zealand Senate. He was the Chief Justice of New Zealand from 1946 until his death in Auckland in 1953, aged 67.

Honours and awards O'Leary was made a King's Counsel in 1935, a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1947 New Year Honours, and Honourable Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple, London in 1948. In 1953, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.