Bryan Beaumont

Bryan Alan Beaumont AO (29 December 1938 — 12 June 2005) was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from May 1983 until February 2005. He also held positions in the legal systems of Pacific countries including Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu.

Beaumont was born on 29 December 1938 in Brisbane. When he was two, the family moved to Sydney, where he attended Erskineville Opportunity School, excelling as a leg spin bowler, and from 1951 to 1955 Sydney Boys' High School, where he received prizes in Latin, history and sport. Beaumont obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with honours at the University of Sydney in 1961, after studying for five years part-time while working as an articled clerk. As an LLB student, he gained the nickname 'the Chief', because of his apparent ability to predict questions that would appear on examination papers. He was awarded two major prizes: the Pitt Cobett Prize for Constitutional Law and the Sir John Peden Memorial Prize for Constitutional and Private Law.

Beaumont was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1965, after serving as Associate to Supreme Court Judge Robert Macfarlan. He demonstrated a particular proficiency in constitutional law, appearing regularly before the High Court and the Privy Council, and in 1973 began working as a consultant to the government of Papua New Guinea, advising on judicial and constitutional matters relating to the country's imminent independence from Australia. In 1978, his legal skills were recognised with an appointment as Queen's Counsel. In 1981, Beaumont was chosen to chair the Royal Commission into the Tasmanian Constitution, which resulted in an improvement in the structure of the Tasmanian Houses of Parliament.

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