On this new page, initiated at the suggestion of one of our members, short local history articles submitted by Bayside U3A Writers Group members will be published. These articles may be on regional history, aspects of the history of Bayside, the history of your neighbourhood, your street, or even your house and its occupants over the years. Many of us have explored the history of our own house and it can reveal extraordinary events. We hope that by introducing this category, we can assist professional historians by providing new information on our local area and its occupants.
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A Potted History of Brighton’s Court Houses, 1859 – 1986
by Jan Storey
Melbourne’s first trial was held in 1836 in a twelve feet square wattle and daub building with reeds heaped over the top for a roof, located close to the current Southern Cross Station.[1] The rustic setting did not impede the wheels of justice from turning briskly, with Captain William Lonsdale, the Police Magistrate, frequently sentencing the guilty to be lashed. After 1838, when sittings of the Court of Petty Sessions were formally gazetted for Melbourne, it was usual practice for two or more Justices of the Peace (JPs) to preside.
As the colonial population grew, more Courts of Petty Sessions were needed including at Brighton, where the inaugural court session took place in March 1859.[2] The court sat in a rented building that was shared with the newly formed Brighton Borough Council. In 1860, a half-acre site on the south-west corner of Wilson and Carpenter Streets was purchased by the government from William Wilson for £150 and a brick building was erected to house both the court and the council.[3]
The court had jurisdiction to hear, inter alia, minor criminal offences, breaches of Council by-laws, and family matters relating to deserted wives and neglected children. In 1869, one such unfortunate child, Florence Moon, was bought before the Brighton Court charged with being a neglected child.[4] The bench of five Justices of the Peace (JPs) sent the girl to Industrial School for four years. The schools were established in the 1860s to cater for neglected children and were closed in the 1880s.
It was common practice for newspapers to publish stories from local courts such as Brighton. These reports provide a fascinating window into the social mores and problems of the day. For instance, in 1889, The Caulfield and Elsternwick Leader reported that in the course of one day, JPs Bent and Wilson dealt with cases involving unlawful assault, illegal gambling, wandering horses, straying cows, insulting behaviour at the Wesleyan Church, grossly indecent behaviour in St Andrew Street, a violent assault on a wife, a charge of vagrancy of a ‘poor old fellow’, and a charge of drunkenness.[5]
Like all Courts of Petty Sessions, the Brighton Court had jurisdiction to conduct committal hearings to determine whether sufficient evidence existed to warrant sending the accused for trial by judge and jury. This was the case for Frederick Davies who in 1869, was charged with manuring his land with offal and other obnoxious substances causing offensive smells. The bench of four JPs determined that his actions were a serious breach of the Public Health Statute and committed Davis for trial.[6]
One case that was widely reported in 1884 was that of James Hawthorn who was brought before the Brighton Court charged with the murder of his brother William.[7] Prior to the murder, the brothers were in dispute over the ownership of farming land they had jointly purchased in the Shire of Moorabbin. The two presiding JPs heard evidence that William was asleep in his house in Bluff Road, Brighton South, when a gun shot was fired through the window. Two Queensland aboriginal trackers followed tracks from outside the window to James’s house. Although the two JPs couldn’t agree whether James should be committed for trial, the case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, and after two jury trials, James Hawthorn was found guilty of murder and hanged in August 1884 in the presence of twenty spectators.[8]
By 1881, the population of Brighton had increased to 4,755 and it was apparent that new council facilities, including a court house, were needed.[9] Arrangements were made to build a complex including an assembly room that also could be used for court sittings. The two-storey Italian style brick building with Corinthian features, cost around £8000 to complete. The foundation stone was laid amidst much fanfare by Thomas Bent in March 1885 followed by the formal opening in March 1886 – again by Thomas Bent.[10]
By the early twentieth century, over 50 percent of cases appearing before Victorian Courts of Petty Sessions were alcohol related.[11] This was reflected in cases before the Brighton Court, not just with individuals such as Michael Sullivan, who in 1915, was fined ten shillings for being drunk and disorderly at Brighton Beach and a further ten shillings for resisting arrest, but also those who breached licensing laws.[12] In 1920, the licensee of Grimbly’s Hotel at Brighton Beach was fined five pounds for having the bar door open on a Sunday.[13] One year later, the licensee of Grimbly’s Hotel was again fined a total of seven pounds for trading during prohibited hours and allowing intoxicated persons to be on the premises.[14] On the same day, the court fined the manager of the Royal Terminus Hotel, Brighton, two pounds for trying to delay the entry of police who were endeavouring to inspect the premises.
In keeping with Brighton’s status, another upgrade of council facilities occurred in the 1930s. As part of the renovations, a new Brighton Court house designed by architect Percy Everett was built in 1936,for the cost of £2,595.[15] In declaring the court open, MLA, Mr Macfarian, stated he hoped the court would treat the poor and afflicted with tempered mercy. He also commented on how difficult it would have been for magistrates and justices to operate in the previous conditions. A spokesman for Justices of the Peace said that when court hearings were held in the Carpenter Street ANA Hall, previously a Primitive Methodist chapel, the presiding officers froze in winter and sweated in summer.[16]
By the 1980’s, there was a growing realisation that too many Magistrate Court buildings existed with little policy as to their disposal. The Victorian Auditor-General’s report, Court Closures in Victoria, 1986, noted that Brighton Court had been ‘temporarily’ closed, and as at April 1986, had been vacant for 15 months.
After lying vacant for some four years, the building was purchased by Brighton City Council. Since then, the Brighton Court House building has been used as a local youth centre, as a venue for meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, and more recently, by the Bayside U3A in return for a peppercorn rent.
[1] Cuthill, William, The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria – an historical outline, 1 January 2007, https://www.mcv.vic.gov.au, accessed 31 Aug 2023
[2] The Age, 7 Oct 1936, p14
[3] Bate, Weston, A History of Brighton, Melbourne University Press, 1983, p237
[4] The Herald, 7 May 1869, p3
[5] The Caulfield and Elsternwick Leader, 23 Nov 1889, p5
[6] The Herald, 28 May 1869, p3
[7] The Age, 30 Apr 1884, p5
[8] Murder at South Brighton: 1884, Kingston Local History, https://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au/, accessed 31 Aug 2023
[9] Census populations of the Brighton municipality, Victorian Places Brighton, https://victorianplaces.com.au/brighton, accessed 9 Aug 2023
[10] The Argus, 1 Apr 1886, p9
[11] Brodsky, Juliette, The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, 170 Years of “The People’s Court”, 14 Feb 2020, https://www.mcv.vic.gov.au, accessed 31 Aug 2023
[12] Brighton Southern Cross, 9 Jan 1915, p5
[13] The Argus, 4 Dec 1920, p22
[14] The Argus, 5 Nov 1921, p17
[15] Brighton:April 1996. Brighton Court House (picturevictoria.vic.gov.au) accessed 9 Aug 2023
[16] The Age, 7 Oct 1936, p14
copyright © Jan Storey, 2023
first published 30 September 2023
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