Obituaries Australia

By the death of Mr. Charles Leslie Stawell, K.C., which occurred in Perth yesterday after a brief illness, Western Australia has suffered the loss of one of the most prominent and certainly one of the most widely esteemed members of our local bar.

Mr. Stawell was a member of a distinguished family. His father was the late Sir William Stawell, who for some years was Chief Justice of Victoria, while his brother, Sir Richard Stawell, is an eminent Victorian physician. He himself was born in Victoria, was educated at Marlborough College, England, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and LL.B. After being called to the bar at the Inner Temple he returned to Australia to commence practice in Melbourne. During the great exodus from Victoria to Western Australia in the middle nineties; following the discovery of gold at Coolgardie, Mr. Stawell was attracted to this State, with the fortunes of which he had ever since closely identified himself. He was admitted to the West Australian bar in 1897 and, proceeding to the Eastern Goldfields, joined the legal organisation of Hare Jodrell and Co. at Kanowna. Soon, however, he gravitated to Kalgoorlie, where he founded Stawell, Cowle and Co., barristers and notaries. Later he came to Perth where, after entering into partnership with Mr. H. C. F Keall, he became the head of the firm of Stawell, Hardwick and Forman and when that firm was dissolved about two years ago he joined the firm of Jackson and Leake and Co., which, since his entry into partnership, has been carried on under the style of Jackson, Leake and Stawell. He took silk on June 15, 1921. Mr. Stawell was highly regarded among his brethren of the bar as being a particularly sound lawyer, especially in the domain of civil law in which his opinions were frequently sought and widely referred to.

Outside his profession Mr. Stawell did not take a particularly active part in our public life, politics possessing for him no attractions. In 1922 he was appointed a Royal Commissioner to inquire into matters relating to the then projected Lake Clifton-Waroona Railway.

A keen sportsman, Mr. Stawell played polo on the goldfields and was a keen golfer, being one of the oldest members of the Perth Golf Club. He was throughout his residence in Western Australia a warm supporter of the turf. For many years he was a member of the WA.T.C. and at one time an active member of the committee of that body. He was also a past president of the Weld Club.

Mr. Stawell married Miss Mildred Helen Kennedy, a sister of Mr. Gil Kennedy, who for many years was interested in Sturt Meadows, Leonora, who, with their son, Mr. Richard Stawell, of Elder, Smith and Co., Ltd., Perth, survives him.

The funeral will take place in the Church of England portion of the Karrakatta Cemetery this afternoon at three o'clock. The cortege will leave the service chapel of Donald Chipper and Son, at 2.35 o'clock.