Nigel Bowen

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Australian politician and judge (1911–1994)

title: "Nigel Bowen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["liberal-party-of-australia-members-of-the-parliament-of-australia", "members-of-the-australian-house-of-representatives-for-parramatta", "members-of-the-australian-house-of-representatives", "chief-justices-of-the-federal-court-of-australia", "judges-of-the-federal-court-of-australia", "judges-of-the-supreme-court-of-new-south-wales", "1911-births", "1994-deaths", "companions-of-the-order-of-australia", "australian-knights-commander-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "ministers-for-foreign-affairs-of-australia", "australian-monarchists", "members-of-the-cabinet-of-australia", "university-of-sydney-alumni", "canadian-emigrants-to-australia", "canadian-monarchists", "people-from-summerland,-british-columbia", "australian-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "people-educated-at-the-king's-school,-parramatta", "burials-at-northern-suburbs-memorial-gardens", "attorneys-general-of-australia", "australian-mps-1963–1966", "australian-mps-1966–1969", "australian-mps-1969–1972", "australian-mps-1972–1974"] description: "Australian politician and judge (1911–1994)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Bowen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian politician and judge (1911–1994) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
honorific-prefixThe Honourable
nameSir Nigel Bowen
honorific-suffix
imageNigel_Bowen_1971.jpg
captionBowen in 1971
officeChief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
term_start20 December 1976
term_end31 December 1990
nominatorMalcolm Fraser
predecessorNew office
successorMichael Black
office1[Judge of the Supreme Court
of New South Wales](supreme-court-of-new-south-wales)
term_start124 July 1973
term_end119 December 1976
predecessor1Charles McLelland
successor1William Deane
office2Minister for Foreign Affairs
primeminister2William McMahon
term_start22 August 1971
term_end25 December 1972
predecessor2Les Bury
successor2Gough Whitlam (acting)
office3Attorney-General of Australia
primeminister3William McMahon
term_start322 March 1971
term_end32 August 1971
predecessor3Tom Hughes
successor3Ivor Greenwood
primeminister4Harold Holt
John McEwen
John Gorton
term_start414 December 1966
term_end412 November 1969
predecessor4Billy Snedden
successor4Tom Hughes
office5Minister for Education and Science
primeminister5John Gorton
term_start512 November 1969
term_end522 March 1971
predecessor5Malcolm Fraser
successor5David Fairbairn
parliament6Australian
constituency_MP6Parramatta
predecessor6Garfield Barwick
successor6Philip Ruddock
term_start620 June 1964
term_end611 July 1973
birth_date
birth_placeSummerland, British Columbia, Canada
death_date
death_placeWahroonga, New South Wales, Australia
spouse{{plainlist
partyLiberal
professionLawyer
::

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable | name = Sir Nigel Bowen | honorific-suffix = | image = Nigel_Bowen_1971.jpg | caption = Bowen in 1971 | office = Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia | term_start = 20 December 1976 | term_end = 31 December 1990 | nominator = Malcolm Fraser | predecessor = New office | successor = Michael Black | office1 = Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales | term_start1 = 24 July 1973 | term_end1 = 19 December 1976 | predecessor1 = Charles McLelland | successor1 = William Deane | office2 = Minister for Foreign Affairs | primeminister2 = William McMahon | term_start2 = 2 August 1971 | term_end2 = 5 December 1972 | predecessor2 = Les Bury | successor2 = Gough Whitlam (acting) | office3 = Attorney-General of Australia | primeminister3 = William McMahon | term_start3 = 22 March 1971 | term_end3 = 2 August 1971 | predecessor3 = Tom Hughes | successor3 = Ivor Greenwood | primeminister4 = Harold Holt John McEwen John Gorton | term_start4 = 14 December 1966 | term_end4 = 12 November 1969 | predecessor4 = Billy Snedden | successor4 = Tom Hughes | office5 = Minister for Education and Science | primeminister5 = John Gorton | term_start5 = 12 November 1969 | term_end5 = 22 March 1971 | predecessor5 = Malcolm Fraser | successor5 = David Fairbairn | parliament6 = Australian | constituency_MP6 = Parramatta | predecessor6 = Garfield Barwick | successor6 = Philip Ruddock | term_start6 = 20 June 1964 | term_end6 = 11 July 1973 | birth_date = | birth_place = Summerland, British Columbia, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia | spouse = {{plainlist|

| party = Liberal | profession = Lawyer

Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, (26 May 1911 – 27 September 1994) was an Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1964 to 1973, representing the New South Wales seat of Parramatta. He held senior ministerial office in multiple Coalition governments, serving as Attorney-General (1966–1969, 1971), Minister for Education and Science (1969–1971), and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1971–1972). After the Coalition lost the 1972 election he was an unsuccessful candidate to replace William McMahon as Liberal leader, losing to Billy Snedden by a single vote. After leaving politics he served as the inaugural chief justice of the Federal Court of Australia (1976–1990).

Early life

Bowen was born on 26 May 1911 in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada. He was the son of Dorothy Joan (née King) and Otway Percival Bowen. His parents, both born in England, were apple farmers.

Bowen and his parents moved to Australia shortly after his birth. They initially settled on a sheep farm in Gunnedah, New South Wales, but following a drought moved to Sydney where his father worked as an accountant. Bowen was sent to school in England from 1919 to 1921 with financial assistance from an aunt. After returning to Australia he attended The King's School, Parramatta, from 1922 to 1927. He subsequently matriculated to the University of Sydney, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1931 and Bachelor of Laws in 1934. He served his articles of clerkship with Sly and Russell in Sydney and was called to the bar in 1936. He practised "widely across fields that included divorce, probate, and inheritance".

During the Second World War, Bowen volunteered in 1941 and joined the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1942 and served in the South Pacific theatre for two years.

Legal career

After the war, Bowen resumed his legal career, sharing chambers with Gough Whitlam, John Kerr and later Bob Ellicott. He took silk in 1953 in New South Wales and Victoria in 1954. He was president of the New South Wales bar council from 1959 to 1961 and was vice-president of the Law Council of Australia from 1957 to 1960. From 1946 to 1961, he was the editor of the Australian Law Journal.

Political career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Nigel_Bowen_1966.jpg" caption="Bowen in 1966"] ::

Bowen was elected to parliament at the 1964 Parramatta by-election, caused by the resignation of Sir Garfield Barwick to take up an appointment as Chief Justice of Australia. He was appointed Attorney-General of Australia in the Second Holt Ministry in December 1966, and in 1968 he introduced a bill for the establishment of a federal court junior to the High Court of Australia. Although that bill was withdrawn, it provided the basis of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976. Bowen appointed the Commonwealth Administrative Review Committee, which reported in 1971 and formed the basis for the establishment of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the appointment of a Commonwealth Ombudsman and the enactment of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977. He also introduced the Privy Council (Limitation of Appeals) Act 1968, which began the process of abolishing appeals from the High Court to the Privy Council in London, culminating in the Australia Act 1986.

In November 1969, Bowen was appointed Minister for Education and Science in the Second Gorton Ministry. In the McMahon Ministry, he was Attorney-General from March to August 1971 and then Minister for Foreign Affairs until the election of the Whitlam government in 1972. When McMahon resigned after the 1972 election, Bowen lost the resulting leadership vote by one vote to Billy Snedden, on the fifth ballot.

Judicial career

In 1973, Bowen was appointed as Chief Judge in Equity in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He was appointed first Chief Judge (later Chief Justice) of the Federal Court of Australia in 1976 and held this until his retirement in 1990. Bowen was one of only six politicians to have served in both the Parliament of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia, alongside Bob Ellicott, Merv Everett, Tony Whitlam, John Reeves and Duncan Kerr.

Personal life

In 1947, Bowen married Eileen Mullins, a nurse, with whom he had three daughters. He was widowed in 1983 and in 1984 remarried to Ermyn Winifred Krippner (née Hookway; 1911–1995), a widowed schoolteacher who had been principal of Burwood Girls High School (1961–1976) and whom he had first met while they were both students at Sydney University.

Bowen died in Wahroonga, New South Wales, on 27 September 1994, aged 83.

Honours

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Nigel_Bowen_Commonwealth_Law_Courts_Building.jpg" caption="The Nigel Bowen Commonwealth Law Courts Building in Canberra"] ::

Bowen was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1976 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1988.

The Nigel Bowen Commonwealth Law Courts Building in Canberra was named in Bowen's honour.

References

References

  1. Jordan, Matthew. (2023). "Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen (1911–1994)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  2. Keating, Paul. (10 October 1994). "Condolences: Bowen, Sir Nigel Hubert, AC, KBE". [[Parliament of Australia]].
  3. Lavarch, Michael. (10 October 1994). "Condolences: Bowen, Sir Nigel Hubert, AC, KBE". [[Parliament of Australia]].
  4. Downer, Alexander. (10 October 1994). "Condolences: Bowen, Sir Nigel Hubert, AC, KBE". [[Parliament of Australia]].
  5. Bowen was [[William McMahon]]'s preferred candidate to replace [[William Owen (judge). William Owen]] on the [[High Court of Australia. High Court]], but [[Anthony Mason (judge). Anthony Mason]] was eventually chosen as it was feared that the Liberal Party would not be able to retain Bowen's seat at a by-election.[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/31/1041196640469.html How McMahon was beaten by Whitlam and the Coalition], ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 31 December 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. (2004). "BGHS: 75 Years Strong". Burwood Girls High School.
  7. (22 September 2021). "Contact ACT Registry". Federal Court of Australia.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

liberal-party-of-australia-members-of-the-parliament-of-australiamembers-of-the-australian-house-of-representatives-for-parramattamembers-of-the-australian-house-of-representativeschief-justices-of-the-federal-court-of-australiajudges-of-the-federal-court-of-australiajudges-of-the-supreme-court-of-new-south-wales1911-births1994-deathscompanions-of-the-order-of-australiaaustralian-knights-commander-of-the-order-of-the-british-empireministers-for-foreign-affairs-of-australiaaustralian-monarchistsmembers-of-the-cabinet-of-australiauniversity-of-sydney-alumnicanadian-emigrants-to-australiacanadian-monarchistspeople-from-summerland,-british-columbiaaustralian-army-personnel-of-world-war-iipeople-educated-at-the-king's-school,-parramattaburials-at-northern-suburbs-memorial-gardensattorneys-general-of-australiaaustralian-mps-1963–1966australian-mps-1966–1969australian-mps-1969–1972australian-mps-1972–1974