Keith Arthur Aickin KBE OM QC (1916 - 1982)

Born 1 Feb 1916 in Malvern, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth May (Gullett) Aickin — married 17 Apr 1952 in Toorak, Victoria, Australia

Died 18 Jun 1982 at age 66 in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Keith Aickin KBE OM QC is Notable.

Keith Aickin KBE OM QC has Irish ancestors.

Keith Arthur Aickin was born on 1st February 1916 in Malvern, Victoria, Australia. He was the younger son of James Aickin, a schoolmaster from Ireland, and his Victorian-born wife Edith Knight. ^[1]

Keith attended Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, where his father was senior mathematics master. He proceeded to the University of Melbourne and graduated Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1937 and Master of Laws (LLM) two years later, with first-class honours. On 1st May 1939 he was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor.

Keith married Elizabeth Gullett in St John’s Church of England (now Anglican Church), Toorak, on 17th April 1952. ^[2]

On 10th December 1957 he took silk as a Queen's Counsel (QC). ^[3]

On 20th September 1976, following a vacancy appearing, Keith finally accepted appointment to the High Court. ^[3] Two months later he was created Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).

Aged 66 years, he passed away as a result of a heart attack on 18th June 1982 in Prince Henry Hospital, South Melbourne, following chest injuries suffered in a motorcar accident two weeks earlier. ^[4][5] He was survived by his wife, and their daughter and son. The Canberra Times published an obituary on Saturday, 19th June: ^[6]

"Sir Keith Arthur Aickin, Justice of the High Court of Australia, died in Melbourne yesterday morning after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.

"Sir Keith had been recovering from chest injuries received in a car accident two weeks ago. His death leaves the High Court two short of its full strength of seven judges, Sir Ninian Stephen having retired last month to prepare for his appointment as Governor-General.

"Sir Keith was one of Australia's greatest post-war constitutional lawyers, whom many saw as destined for the High Court Bench from the time he was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1949. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1957 and quickly established a reputation as a brilliant advocate on constitutional and commercial issues before the High Court.

"In the years before his appointment to the High Court Bench in 1976, he developed an extensive practice and record which in cluded the rare achievement, for an Australian advocate, of appearing before the House of

Lords.

"In those years he also became a director of several large Australian companies, including BHP, Mayne Nickless and Comalco. He relinquished those directorships on taking up his High Court appointment. Sir Keith sat on almost all of the great constitutional cases of recent years. He took a cautious

"States' rights" view of cases where the relative powers of the Commonwealth and the States were at issue.

"The most recent example of that approach came last month when he was in the dissenting minority in the decision which validated the Commonwealth

Racial Discrimination Act and opened up potential new areas of legislative power for the Commonwealth.

"Sir Keith was educated at Melbourne Grammar, where his father had been a teacher, and Melbourne University."

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Birth Index #5084/1916
2. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #8197/1952
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} High Court; accessed 24 May 2023
4. ↑ Victorian Death Index #22725/1982
5. ↑ The Canberra Times (ACT: 1926 - 1995) Sat 19 Jun 1982 Page 3 Justice Aickin dies after suffering heart attack; accessed 24 May 2023
6. ↑ The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) Sat 19 Jun 1982 Page 3 Justice Aickin dies after suffering heart attack; accessed 2 Feb 2024

See also:

• Dawson, Daryl. 'Aickin, Sir Keith Arthur (1916–1982)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2007; accessed online 15 May 2023.
• Wikipedia: Keith Aickin; accessed 24 May 2023.