Hal Wootten
|
Emeritus Professor Hal Wootten AC, QC |
|
|---|---|
| Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Halden Wootten 19 December 1922 |
| Citizenship | Australian |
| Spouse(s) | Gillian Cowlishaw |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Profession |
Barrister Academic Judge Aboriginal and human rights lawyer Social justice advocate |
John Halden "Hal" Wootten AC QC (born 19 December 1922) is an Australian lawyer and legal academic and the founder of the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law, of which he was the Foundation Chair and its inaugural Dean. Wootten has served in multiple capacities and offices, including as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, a Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of New South Wales, and a Deputy President of the Native Title Tribunal.
John Halden Wootten was born to a lower-middle-class family of dairy farmers from the North Coast region of New South Wales and is of English descent. Wootten's father grew up at Hal's paternal grandparents' farm in Alstonville, alongside Hal's uncles, in a Methodist upbringing. Wootten's father died when Hal was 11 months old; he was raised by his mother and, primarily, her parents, with whom Wootten lived until he was 9 years old. As a result of his mother's uncontrolled diabetes, Wootten was born a "huge baby", with two broken arms. One of these arms might have otherwise withered were it not for intervention by an elderly black woman who worked for Wootten's mother, who would massage his arms daily; however, though the uses of this arm are restricted, it remains relatively functional.
Wootten undertook his primary schooling at Willoughby Public School and Double Bay Public School, when his mother ran her dress-making business.
Wootten was educated at Sydney Boys High School in Surry Hills, graduating in the class of 1939, and the University of Sydney, from 1940 to 1945, where he earned a B.A., and the Sydney Law School, then the only law school in New South Wales, where he earned an LL.B..
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