John Gavan Duffy [SEP] position held
John Gavan Duffy
John Gavan Duffy (15 October 1844 – 8 March 1917) was an Australian politician, member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
Born in Dublin, Ireland to Charles Gavan Duffy (who would later serve as Premier of Victoria) and Emily McLaughlin, he arrived with his family in Melbourne in August 1859, and after some time on his father's farm he was articled as a clerk to a solicitor. In 1874 he married Margaret Mary Callan, with whom he had five children. He was admitted
legal career, he was appointed President of the High Court, a position he held for the rest of his life. His most controversial judgement was in the "Tilson Case" heard in 1950, one year before his death, in which he applied the "ne temere" decree to the letter as de Valera's 1937 Irish Constitution gave the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland a "special position". The Supreme Court of Ireland concurred but Gavan Duffy was criticised in some quarters for his ruling. He was a longstanding member