11. Mr Justice Sir Herbert Angas Parsons

MR JUSTICE- SIR HERBERT ANGAS PARSONS was born 23 May 1872 in Nth Adelaide, Sth Australia,

He married MARY ELSIE BONYTHON 18 Apr 1900 in Methodist Church, Adelaide, Sth Australia. Mary daughter of John Langdon Bonython and Mary Louisa Balthasar was born 10 Mar 1874 in Adelaide, Sth Australia.

Herbert died in Adelaide, South Ausraliaon the 2nd of November 1945, aged 83 and was buried at the North Road Anglican Cemetery, Nailsworth South Australia.

Mary died in North Adelaide on the 2nd of may 1956, aged 82 and was also buried at the North Road Cemetery

Judge of the South Australian Supreme Court 1921 -1945

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide 1942-1945

Herbert Angas, only son of Langdon and Rose, was born at North Adelaide on 23 May 1872. He was educated at Prince Alfred College and briefly at the Agricultural College, Roseworthy, before spending three years under his great-uncle John Howard Angas following pastoral and financial pursuits. Herbert studied law at the University of Adelaide (LL.B., 1897) and was articled to a member of Charles Kingston's firm. He was admitted to the Bar in 1897 and became a partner of Patrick McMahon Glynn. On 18 April 1900 in the Pirie Street Methodist Church, Parsons married Mary Elsie, daughter of (Sir) John Langdon Bonython of the Advertiser.

Like his father Herbert was a pamphleteer, publishing on the Northern Territory, criminal law and common sense, the rights of youth, education and Imperial expansion. A small man, he was gregarious with 'a loud, cheery laugh'; he had business acumen and was well-connected by birth, profession and marriage.

In 1912-15 he sat in the House of Assembly for Torrens, and in 1918-21 for Murray, being briefly attorney-general and minister of education in 1915. Although a member of the Liberal Union, Parsons had an 'unorthodox … disregard' for party, believing that social solidarity not class distinction was important. His pleas for extending education for adolescents and increasing teachers' salaries derived from his view that 'the trouble with democracy is that it is so badly educated and ill informed'. He advocated reclamation rather than imprisonment of drunks, and reform rather than punishment of prisoners. Trial by a jury of twelve untrained men he thought 'out of date and altogether barbarous', preferring either a panel of experts or a judge or judges.

As early as 1913 Parsons had been perceived as 'ambitious of judicial rank'; having a seat in parliament and the Advertiser behind him was no hindrance. But Sir Samuel Way considered that 'his knowledge of law is too superficial altogether'. Nevertheless he was appointed K.C. in 1916, a judge of the Supreme Court in 1921, senior puisne judge in 1927, acting chief justice in 1935 and, on occasions, deputy governor. As a judge he was known for his good humour, kindness and common sense which, Sir Mellis Napier said on Herbert's retirement in 1945, had been 'invaluable as a touchstone with which to test too fine-spun theories'.

Parsons espoused many organizations, often heading them: the South Australian Cornish Association; the Royal Empire Society and other Imperial bodies; the Prison Reform Association, the Automobile Association of South Australia; and the Australian Round Table. He was a warden of the University of Adelaide's senate, and vice-chancellor in 1942-44. He spent many hours at the Adelaide Club, preferring its convivial atmosphere to his wife's Methodism.

Following his father as consul for Japan from 1904, he was honoured with the Order of the Rising Sun in 1921. He was knighted in 1936 and appointed K.B.E. in 1945. Survived by Lady Parsons and their two sons, he died of cirrhosis of the liver on 2 November 1945 and was buried with his parents in North Road cemetery.

Children of HERBERT & MARY PARSONS

i. PHILIP BRENDON ANGAS-PARSONS, b. 06 Mar 1905, Adelaide South Australia.

ii. GEOFFREY BONYTHON ANGAS-PARSONS, b. 01 Feb 1908, Adelaide, South Australia.