NSW Senior Counsel Appointments

Prior to 1993 silks were referred to as QC or KC (KC from 1901-1952) depending on the reigning sovereign - they commenced being referred to as SC on and from 1993. Please note that formal titles and/or post nominals that may have been held by an individual on their appointment as a silk have been omitted.

Note: An individual is not listed here if it is know he/she was appointed silk in another jurisdiction prior to taking silk status in NSW where this is known.

Name	Date of appointment	External links
Sheppard, Ian Fitzharding	1969
Knoblanche, Ernest Paul	1969
Bainton, Russell John	1969
Bishop, Edwin Sidney	1970
Melville, John Alan	1970
Fullagar, Richard Kelsham	1970
Waddall, Thomas William	1970
Simblist, Samuel Hyman	1970
Powell, Philip Ernest	1970
Martin, Trevor James	1971
Ward, William Desmond Thomas	1971
Cantor, Henry Laurence	1971
Smith, George Hillary	1971
Watson, Frederick Vernon	1971
Fisher, William Kenneth	1971
McCaw, Kenneth Malcolm	1972
Marr, Reginald Joseph	1972
Gee, Kenneth Grenville	1972
Finlay, Mervyn David	1972
Falkingham, Thomas	1972
Dey, John Fletcher	1972
Priestley, Lancelot John	1972
Masterman, George Gurney	1972
Gormly, Francis Jacob	1972
Downing, Robert Reginald	1973
Wallace, Vincent Reinehr	1973
Purnell, Howard Frank	1973
Rogers, Andrew John	1973
Handley, Kenneth Robert	1973
Lockhart, John Stanley	1973
Evatt, Phillip George	1973
Ford, Joseph Kevin	1973
Rossiter, Henry Edwin	1973
Barbour, Richard Thornton Harvey	1973
Shand, Alexander Barclay	1973
Yeldham, David Albert	1973
Horton, Daniel Edmund	1973
Murray, Kevin Ross	1973
Collins, Anthony David	1973
McHugh, Michael Hudson	1973
Kearney, John Basil	1974
Porter, Chester Alexander	1974
Roden, Adrian	1974
St John, Robert James Baldwin	1974
Cullinan, Clive Vincent	1974
Darvall, Cholmondeley	1974
McInerney, Peter Aloysius	1974
Sinclair, John Bowditch	1974
Foster, Michael Leader	1974
Campbell, Michael William	1974

Note for interest

William Charles Wentworth, admitted in 1824 with Robert Wardell as foundation barristers in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, was accorded the distinction of wearing a silk gown in February 1835 - the first in private practice to be so recognised (Sydney Gazette, 12 February 1835). That was a 'patent of precedence' but did not entitle him to use the term 'King's Counsel'. Senior law officers customarily wore silk gowns in court in the early decades of the Supreme Court.