Vice-Chancellors

His Hon Judge Alfred Paxton Backhouse

(1851 - 1939)

MA
Fellow of Senate: 1887 - 1939
Vice-Chancellor: 1892 - 1894, 1896 - 1899, 1911 - 1914

His Honour Judge Alfred Paxton Backhouse, judge, was born at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, on 25 May 1851 and lived with his family in England, Victoria and in Queensland where he attended Ipswich Grammar School. Entering the University of Sydney, he graduated with honours in 1872 (MA, 1875). After teaching at Sydney Grammar School, he was admitted to the Bar on 16 December 1876 and his legal career prospered, with commercial and maritime matters as his principal interests.

Highlights of his legal career included: 1978: crown prosecutor; 1884: acting District Court judge and a permanent member of the bench; and acting on occasions as a Supreme Court judge. He retired in 1921, but remained active in public life.

Backhouse served on the Senate of the University of Sydney in 1887-1939. When the 1912 amending legislation created new conditions for the appointment of Fellows of Senate, his lifetime tenure was specifically confirmed. He was vice-chancellor in 1892-94, 1896-99 and 1911-14, and a fellow of St Paul's College until 1928 when he resigned on a matter of domestic policy. An original member of the Sydney University Union, he helped to reconstitute it as a large-scale club in 1913 and was its lifelong supporter. Interested in music and drama, and in all kinds of organized sport, he fostered these outside and inside the university.

His varied interests included: president of the New South Wales Rowing Association, the United Charities Fund, the Navy League and the Benevolent Society of New South Wales; long-term councillor of the Royal Australian Historical Society; and a member of the Sydney Philharmonic Society.

He died at his home at Elizabeth Bay on 1 August 1939.

Information taken from the Australian Dictionary of Biography

Senate resolution in 1937

It was reported to the Senate in December that during the year His Honour Judge Backhouse had completed a term of fifty years as a Fellow of the Senate.

The following resolution was placed on the records:-

His Honour Judge Backhouse has beena member of the Senate for more than fifty years, first as a Fellow elected by the graduates and then for nearly twenty-five years as a Fellow upon whom Parliament conferred the honour of life membership. The University owes him a debt of gratitude for his wise counsel and his devotion to its welfare and advancement.

The Senate desires to offer him most cordial congratulations on his long record of distinguished service, and every good wish for his health and happiness.

From the Senate Report for the year ended 31 December 1937, page 1043, 1938 Calendar

Senate resolution in August 1939 on the death of Judge Backhouse

At the meeting held in August 1939, the Senate received the news of the death of Judge Backhouse. The Senate unanimously adopted the following resolution:

"It is with profound regret that the Senate records the death, on the 1st August, 1939, of His Honour Judge Alfred Paxton Backhouse, M.A.

The Senate desires to express its deep sense of the great loss sustained by the University through the passing of one who was a Fellow of the Senate for fifty-two years, and who was Vice-Chancellor from 1892 to 1895, from 1896 to 1900, and from 1911 to 1914.

As an undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts, Judge Backhouse had a distinguished course. He graduated in 1872 with First Class Honours in Classics and First Class Honours in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He became a Master of Arts in 1875.

From his first appearance as a Fellow of the Senate in 1887 until his death in 1939, hee showed a keen interest in every phase of University activity, and, during his long period of service, he made countless friends by his many outstanding qualities. His service as a member of the Finance Committee, the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the University Extension Board, the Council of St. Paul's College, and on other Committees, was invaluable. He had, throughout his long life, an interest in every part of University life, and none the least was his steadfast support of the undergraduates and of undergraduate life.

He may be named as one of the most loyal supporters of the University of Sydney, and he took pride in its progress for more than half a century. No one, and no one after, can hope to emulate the example given by this great Son of SYdney University.

One of his greatest qualifications was his intimate knowledge of academic procedure, and those who have been fortunate enough to have had association with him for many years realise the greatness and the goodness of the man. His name will live in the history of the University of Sydney as one of the most representative of the ability, learning, and character that gave the institution whatever claim to greatness its first century may establish. The name of Backhouse will be an inspiration to the generations to come as one who helped in guiding the counsels of the University with the wisdom which gained for him both the admiration and esteem of all its members."

From the Report of the University of Sydney for the year ended 31st December, 1939