The Crown Solicitor of South Australia provides legal services to South Australian government Ministers, agencies and departments.
In the early days of the colony the titles of Advocate-General, Crown Solicitor and Public Prosecutor were bestowed together. That changed in 1850 due to the ill-health of then Advocate-General, William Smillie. As a consequence of Smillie's ill-health, the position of Crown Solicitor was given to Charles Mann. Mann briefly held the title of Acting Advocate-General before resigning that position in favour of Richard Hanson. Hanson became South Australia's last Advocate-General and the provinces first Attorney-General in the inaugural Parliament in 1857.
Since 1850, the position of Crown Solicitor has been a public sector employee. The current Crown Solicitor of South Australia, as of January 2025, is Lucinda Byers.
List of Crown Solicitors of South Australia (1851 to 2025)
Crown SolicitorTime in office Charles Mann 1837–38 George Milner Stephen 1838 Robert Bernard 1838–40 William Smillie 1840–52 William Bartley (Acting) 1849–50 Charles Mann 1850–56In 1851, the Office of Crown Solicitor was severed from that of Advocate-General. 'THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 18 Jul 1851: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38449569 William Alfred Wearing QCappointed Queen's Counsel 16 March 1865 1856–67'THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 11 Apr 1856: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49753208 William Bakewell 1867–70'THE MONTHS NEWS' South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) 9 Aug 1867: 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39188731 Richard Bullock Andrews QCappointed Queen's Counsel 16 March 1865'Andrews, Richard Bullock (1823 - 1884)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015 1870–81'GOVERNMENT GAZETTE' The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) 21 Jan 1870: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28588503 Charles Mann QC 1881–89'Latest News' Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912) 18 Mar 1881: 2 Edition: SECOND EDITION http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197752712 James Martin Stuart 1889–1905'THE NEW CROWN SOLICITOR' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) 15 Aug 1889: 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24482422 Charles James Dashwood KCappointed King's Counsel 18 July 1906'Dahswood, Charles James (1842 - 1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015 1905–16'PERSONAL' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) 5 Jul 1905: 6 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4938274 Frederick William Richards KCappointed King's Counsel 8 September 1921 1916–27'CROWN LAW APPOINTMENT' Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 - 1924) 1 Aug 1916: 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105360150 Albert James Hannanappointed King's Counsel 15 January 1935'Hannan, Albert James (1887 - 1965)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015 1927–52'CROWN LAW OFFICE' News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954) 28 Apr 1927: 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129246812 Reginald Roderick St Clair Chamberlain KCappointed King's Counsel 8 May 1947'Chamberlain, Sir Reginald Roderick St Clair (1901 - 1990)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume ?, MUP, 1967, pp ??-??. Retrieved on 3 September 2015 1952–59'New Crown Solicitor' The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) 25 Jul 1952: 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47401900 Joseph Reginald Kearnan QCappointed Queen's Counsel 5 May 1960 1959–68 William Andrew Noye Wells QCappointed Queen's Counsel 20 September 1962 1968–69 Ralph Meyrick Hague 1969–70 Leslie Kenneth Gordon 1970–76 Graham Clifton Prior QCappointed Queen's Counsel 8 January 1978 1976–84 Catherine Margaret Branson QC 1984–89 Bradley Maxwell Selway QCappointed Queen's Counsel 1 December 1994 1989–96 Michael Walter QCappointed Queen's Counsel 4 December 2003 1996–2004 Simon Stretton SCappointed Senior Counsel 26 October 2009 2004–10 Gregory Parker 2010–13 Michael Evans QCappointed Queen's Counsel 17 January 2008 2015–16 Judith Hughes 2016–17 Michael Wait SCappointed Queen's Counsel 22 November 2016 2018–20 Laura Stein 2020–21 Ingrid Norman2021–2024Lucinda Byers2025–
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