Ellis Bent - Later Years

Later Years

Macquarie and Bent were to be at loggerheads in the later years of Bent's appointment. They firstly disagreed over the independence of the judiciary, something that is taken for granted today in common law countries. Macquarie took the view that Bent's commission required him to obey the orders and directions of the governor in all times. Bent took the view that he should only obey the "lawful" instructions of the governor.

Secondly, Bent came under the influence of his brother. Unfortunately, Bent's brother proved to be the opposite of Bent and was obstructive at every possible time. Whilst Bent had been initially progressive in allowing convict lawyers to appear in the Court of Civil Jurisdiction to assist litigants as agents, he sided with his brother that they should not be allowed to appear in the newly created Supreme Court of Civil Judicature to which his brother had been appointed. This raised Macquarie's ire as it impeded the ability of the new court to function.

Lastly, Bent clashed with Macquarie over the introduction of new shipping rules for the colony. Bent had initially concurred with Macquarie's shipping rules in 1810. However, in 1814, when Macquarie provided a draft set of revised rules, Bent found them to be unnecessary and some to be illegal.