Alexander Shand (barrister)

Shand was born in Ulladulla, New South Wales, to John Shand and Mary (née Barclay). John Shand (1825–1891) had arrived in Sydney in 1853 as a stonemason before becoming a farmer and finally a police magistrate at Penrith Court. Shand Snr founded a legal dynasty that produced three generations of barristers. A. B. Shand, as he came to be known, was educated at Newington College commencing in 1880.^[5] He went up to the University of Sydney and graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1884.^[6] Following graduation and articles, Shand was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1887. He was the Crown Prosecutor on the NSW western circuit in 1895-6 and took silk in 1906. He became a leading member of the Bar Council. His wife, Florence (née Brierley), became a tireless worker for the poor and infirm and sat on the boards of various hospitals, schools and women's auxiliaries.^[7] She died in October 1929.^[8] Mrs Shand was the sister of Louisa Victoria, Mrs Cecil Purser (née Brierley).^[9] Shand retired in 1930^[10] and lived in retirement in Vaucluse, New South Wales, until his death at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney.^[11]