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Selden Society Australian Chapter
cordially invites you to
Dr Dominic O’Sullivan QC
on Lord Blackburn
Thursday 17 September 2015
5.15pm for 5.30pm
Banco Court, Level 3, Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law
415 George Street Brisbane
RSVP by 10 September 2015 [email protected]
Please join us for drinks after the lecture on the Banco Court terrace
Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn of Killearn (‘Statesmen. No. 381’)
by Sir Leslie Ward
Chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 19 November 1881
359 mm x 242 mm paper size
National Portrait Gallery (NPG D44040)
Lord Blackburn
17 September—5.15pm for 5.30pm
Lord Blackburn (1813–1896) was one of the
leading figures in the classical era of the law
of contract.
Image frame is a graphic element only and does not depict the actual work as framed.
He was educated at Trinity
College, Cambridge (1835). He
then practised at the Bar for 21
years — mostly in commercial
matters (1838-1859). During
this period, he wrote a respected
text (A Treatise on the Effect of
the Contract of Sale) and jointly
edited a series of law reports
(Ellis & Blackburn).
(1876–1886). During this ten year period, the
House of Lords reshaped the law extensively.
Leading cases from this era include Mackay
v Dick (1881), Maddison v Alderson (1883)
and Foakes v Beer (1884).
With a Scots accent, an
ungenial manner and a
tendency to interrupt counsel
“with deftly delivered posers”,
the formidable Lord Blackburn
died a bachelor in 1896.
Dr Dominic
O’Sullivan QC
on Lord Blackburn
In 1859, Blackburn was appointed
a Judge of the Court of Queen’s
Bench (1859–1876). During this period, he
decided a series of leading cases in the law
of contract, including Tweddle v Atkinson
(1861) and Taylor v Caldwell (1863). As a
consequence of his being personally sued by
a self-represented litigant for deciding a case
adversely to her, Blackburn also contributed
to the law concerning judicial immunity —
Fray v Blackburn (1863). Later he delivered
the judgment of the Exchequer Chamber in
Fletcher v Rylands (1866), prior to it going up
to the House of Lords.
Dominic O’Sullivan
graduated Bachelor of Arts
(First Class Honours, English
Literature) (1993) and Bachelor
of Laws (First Class Honours) (1994) from
The University of Queensland. Following
admission as a solicitor with the Brisbane
firm Feez Ruthning (now Allens), he
undertook postgraduate study at Exeter
College, Oxford, as a Commonwealth
Scholar (D. Phil, 2001). He practised as
a member of the Essex Court Chambers
in London from 2001 to 2006, where he
remains an associate member, and since
2006 at the Queensland Bar. He was
appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2014.
In 1876, Lord Blackburn was appointed one
of the first two Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
RSVP by 10 September 2015 [email protected]
Please join us for drinks after the lecture on the Banco Court terrace
For enquiries call 07 3247 5434
Selden Society