Samuel Way

Sir Samuel James Way, 1st Baronet (11 April 1836 – 8 January 1916), English-Australian jurist, was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia from 18 March 1876 until 8 January 1916.

Way was born in Portsmouth, England. Reverend James Way, his father, was a clergyman in the Bible Christian Church, who emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia in 1850 along with his wife and four younger children to establish a mission. Samuel, the eldest child, remained behind, studying at Shebbear College in Shebbear, a small village in North Devon, and later at a school in Chatham in Kent. He left England to rejoin his family at the end of 1852, arriving in Adelaide in March 1853. He was soon employed in the office of John Tuthill Bagot, at that time a barrister, and in 1856 became an articled clerk to Alfred Atkinson (c. 1825 – 4 June 1861), solicitor of King William Street.

On 25 March 1861, Way was admitted to the South Australian Bar to practice law, and when Atkinson died shortly afterwards, Way inherited his practice. Way practised as a barrister and quickly became a leader among the legal community, and in 1868 joined a partnership with another barrister, James Brook. In September 1871, Way was made a Queen's Counsel, despite having been admitted to the bar only ten years earlier. When Brook died in 1872, a young Josiah Symon joined Way as partner. Way continued to be highly successful, travelling to London to argue a number of cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In 1874, Way was elected as a member of the council of the University of Adelaide, and was also appointed to the South Australian Board of Education.

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