James Blair (Australian Judge) - Judicial Career

Judicial Career

In 1922, Blair was again offered an appointment as a judge on the Northern Queensland bench. This time he accepted and he and his family moved to Townsville. He subsequently moved to the Central Queensland bench in 1923 which was based at Rockhampton. He was appointed chief justice on 24 April 1925 on the death of McCawly. He was reappointed to the senate of the University of Queensland in 1926 and became chancellor in 1927. Blair was knighted in the 1930 New Year Honours.

In 1931 Blair heard a civil claim for damages against two former premiers of Queensland, William McCormack and Edward Granville Theodore. They were both accused of conspiracy in respect of the purchase of two mines in Northern Queensland from the Munguna Mining Corporation. The case achieved public notoriety as Theodore was then the Treasurer of the Australian Government. The trial lasted twenty-days before a jury and had to be held in the Brisbane City Hall because of the number of defendants. It led to a verdict in favour of McCormack and Theodore.

In 1939, Blair and a jury held a trial in respect of a large of number of accused who had been part of the League for Social Justice. The accused had invaded the Legislative Council chambers armed with baton, barbed wire and hammers. Blair's biography states that Blair made it clear to the jury that the accused were guilty, but the jury found that they were not.

Frank Hardy's novel "Power Without Glory" uses thinly veiled references to Blair in the novel. Hardy uses the character in the novel to accuse Blair of venality. Blair's biographer dismisses these references as simply gossip. Blair was also to be the president of Queensland Rugby Union.