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Philip Acland Jacobs (1873–1963)

Philip Jacobs, n.d.

Philip Jacobs, n.d.

photo supplied by family

Philip Acland Jacobs died in Melbourne on 6th September at the age of 90. He was admitted to practice in 1895 and at the time of his death was the only member of the Victorian Bar to have been admitted in the last century.

Jacobs was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Scotch College, Melbourne, from which he proceeded as an undergraduate to Ormond College in the University of Melbourne. He read as a pupil in the chambers of J. G. (later Judge) Eagleson. His practice took him most often to the County Court and he became a master of work in this court. He wrote the standard work on the practice of the court which, after almost sixty years, is much in use after its fourth edition, and also a handbook entitled The Trial of County Court Actions which has been the vade mecum of successive generations of beginners. In 1928 he was commissioned to revise the County Court Act for the statutory consolidation of that year, and, with the late Judge Winneke, he drafted the County Court rules. With the Hon. W. A. Holman K.C. of the bar of New South Wales, he wrote a textbook on Australian Mercantile Law.

In his early years at the bar Jacobs was a reporter for the Argus Law Reports. He also reported cases "in popular" style for the Argus newspaper. He derived particular enjoyment from journalism and often contributed to Melbourne newspapers. Two of his series of articles were published as books under the titles Famous Australian Trials and Judges of Yesterday. In 1949 he published a delightful book of reminiscences and anecdotes from his long career entitled A Lawyer Tells.

His son Mr. C. P. Jacobs is a Master of the Supreme Court.

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'Jacobs, Philip Acland (1873–1963)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/jacobs-philip-acland-20179/text31885, accessed 19 March 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Philip Jacobs, n.d.

Philip Jacobs, n.d.

photo supplied by family

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Calamus
Birth

18 January, 1873
St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

4 September, 1963 (aged 90)
Box Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Cause of Death

heart disease

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