Obituaries Australia

The oldest practising solicitor in Melbourne, and a distinguished member of his profession, Mr Harry Emmerton, died at his home, Raveloe, Domain road, South Yarra, early yesterday morning. He was aged 82 years. Last year Mr. Emmerton was injured in a motor car accident. Some weeks ago he suffered a severe attack of influenza and he did not regain his health.

Mr Emmerton was born on his father's estate Wavendon, Buckinghamshire (Eng), in 1845, and came to Australia with his parents when he was aged four years. Following the traditions of his family which, it is stated, had given 'auditors and notaries' to the Court of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, as to later generations, he read law, and was admitted as a solicitor in Victoria in 1872. For 55 years he practised as a member of the firm of J. M. Smith and Emmerton, which he joined as a junior clerk. Mr Smith died in 1898, and Mr Emmerton directed the firm alone until it was joined in 1901 by Mr H. R. Hamer.

Mr. Emmerton was a member of the boards of The Trustees, Executor and Agency Company Limited and the Alliance Assurance Company. For several years he was a member of the Supreme Court board of examiners and of the council of the Law Institute. He was deeply interested in charities, and he was honorary legal adviser to the Children's Hospital for more than 30 years, and legal adviser to the Talbot Colony for Epileptics. He assisted in preparing the Hospitals and Charities Act. Mr. Emmerton was one of the oldest members of the Melbourne Club. He had lived in South Yarra for 50 years. Mrs. Emmerton was Miss Alice Balcombe, daughter of the late Mr A. M. Balcombc, a pioneer of the Mornington Peninsula, after whom Balcombe's Creek was named. Recently Mrs Emmerton was made an Officer of the British Empire. Mr Emmerton's only child is Mrs Norman Brookes.