216 Annual Report of the Council. 



the most distinguished of our corresponding members, a 

 man eminent as a lawyer and a judge, and no less eminent 

 as a mathematician. Of the work which he did, and of the 

 distinctions which he won at the Bar and on the Bench 

 something may be said here ; though he was known to us 

 chiefly by his writings on subjects far removed from his 

 professional life. The first paper contributed by him to 

 our Memoirs bears the title, " Researches in the Higher 

 Algebra;" it was read before the Society on the 5th 

 October, 1858, that is, more than six-and-thirty years ago. 

 He was then a Barrister on the Midland Circuit, where he 

 gained the good opinion and esteem of all with whom he 

 came in contact, being especially admired for his justness 

 of thought, clearness of view, refinement of mind, and 

 elevation of character. These characteristics, combined 

 with a sound knowledge of law and unwearied industry, 

 eminently fitted him for the high position which, a few years 

 later, he was called to fill as first Chief Justice of Queens- 

 land. This advancement he owed to Sir William Erie, 

 then Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who had 

 formed a very favourable opinion of his capacity and 

 character. Erie, on being applied to by the Colonial Office, 

 "named" Cockle for the position "on account of the 

 estimation and regard in which he was held by the good 

 men on his circuit." 



Cockle commenced his judicial labours amid difficulties 

 not of his own creating — for they had arisen before his 

 arrival in the Colony, and were in no way connected with 

 any action of his — but by courtesy, tact, and decision he 

 was enabled speedily to overcome them, and his subsequent 

 course was comparatively smooth. 



For more than fifteen years he presided over the Supreme ' 

 Court of Queensland, and throughout the whole period he 

 enjoyed, the respect and confidence alike of his colleagues 

 on the Bench, the members of the Bar, and the community 

 in general. 



