Ellis Bent

Ellis Bent (1783 – 10 November 1815) was the Deputy Judge Advocate between 1810 and 1815 of the Australian colony of New South Wales, which was eventually to become an Australian state. The Deputy Judge Advocate of New South Wales was the senior legal officer of the colony and functioned in many ways as a Chief Justice. Bent was the first barrister to be appointed to a judicial office in the infant colony in an era when military officers were commonly appointed to the position.

Bent Street in Sydney,Bent's Basin and Ellis Bent Road, Greendale near the Warragamba Dam are named after him.

Bent was born in 1783 although his birthdate is sometimes recorded as 1779. He was the second son of Robert Bent and the younger brother of Jeffery Bent. He grew up in Surrey, England on the family estate Moulsey.

He was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in 1804 and a Master of Arts in 1807. He was called to the Bar in 1805 practising in England for a number of years. He was described as a tall and rather heavy man, and his health was poor.

He was appointed by Lord Bathurst as the deputy judge-advocate of the colony of New South Wales as from 1 January 1809. He arrived at Sydney on 1 January 1810 on board HMS Dromedary, which happened to be carrying the new Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. Bent took over from his predecessor Richard Atkins who was generally regarded in the colony as incompetent.

The role of deputy judge-advocate (commonly referred to as the "judge-advocate") placed Bent as the primary judicial member of the colony. He presided with six military officers in the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, which was the only criminal court of colony which dealt with serious criminal crimes and was the only court which could sentence a person to death. He also presided with two nominees appointed by the governor in the Court of Civil Jurisdiction, which was the principal civil court of the colony. He held a commission to preside in the Vice-Admiralty Court to deal with admiralty issues that arose from time to time. He lastly presided with another magistrate as the Bench of Magistrates to deal with less serious criminal matters in Sydney.

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