Obituaries Australia

Judge Edmund Alfred Barton, who retired from the District Court Bench last May, died at his home in Jersey Road, Woollahra, yesterday in his 71st year.

He had been ill several months.

Judge Barton was the eldest son of the first Prime Minister of Australia, Sir Edmund Barton.

He was educated at The King's School, Parramatta; and took his B.A. degree at Oxford University, after winning a scholarship from the school.

He was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1906, and had a wide practice in several jurisdictions, particularly equity and common law.

He was appointed a Judge of the District Court in 1933 and an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court from July, 1939, until April, 1941.

Sir Henry Manning, a former Attorney-General who appointed Judge Barton to the District Court Bench, said last night that both the legal profession and many personal friends would hear of his death with deep sorrow.

"He was a person of exquisite taste in art and literature and had a rare capacity for friendship," Sir Henry Manning said.

"He was admired for his tolerant and humanitarian discharge of his duties on the Bench.'"

Judge Barton is survived by his wife and two married daughters.

The funeral will leave St. Mark's Church, Darling Point, to-morrow morning after a service at 9.30 for Northern Suburbs Crematorium.