Reginald Hardie Boys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Lawyer
- judge
Reginald Hardie Boys | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 June 1903 Otautau, New Zealand |
| Died | 6 December 1970 (aged 67) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Edith May Bennett (m. 1929) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Michael Hardie Boys (son) |
Reginald Hardie Boys QC (8 June 1903 – 6 December 1970) was a New Zealand lawyer and judge. He was appointed Queen's Counsel and a judge of the Supreme Court (now High Court) in 1958.
Hardie Boys was born in Otautau on 8 June 1903, the son of Frederick William Boys, a Primitive Methodist clergyman, and Hannah Jane Boys (née Hardie).[1][2][3] His surname at birth was Boys, but he later used his middle name (his mother's maiden name) as part of his surname, sometimes written Hardie-Boys. He was educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School.[4]
On 2 October 1929, Hardie Boys married Edith May Bennett at St Paul's Methodist Church in Palmerston North,[5] and the couple went on to have two sons, including Michael Hardie Boys.[2][4]
Career
Hardie Boys became a barrister and solicitor in 1924, practising in Wellington. Over the following 33 years, he worked either on his own account, or as a senior partner in his own law firm conducted under various firm names including: Hardie Boys and Fortune; Hardie Boys, Haldane, and Fortune; Hardie Boys and Haldane; and Scott, Hardie Boys and Morrison.[6][7][8] The majority of his legal practice was in the courts, particularly in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in later years.[9] In 1948, he was counsel for the Crown before the parliamentary inquiry into the film industry,[10] and in 1954 he was appointed counsel to assist the board of inquiry that investigated the Tangiwai railway disaster.[11]
On 4 March 1958, Hardie Boys was appointed Queen's Counsel,[12][13] and in July that year he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, to be based in Auckland.[9] In October 1968, he was appointed an additional judge for the Court of Appeal.[14]
Hardie Boys served the legal profession as a council member of both the Wellington District Law Society and the New Zealand Law Society, and was president of the Wellington District Law Society in 1954.[9]