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Australian Courthouses

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Albany Courthouse 1895-96, Western Australia

The Albany Courthouse is an operating Magistrates Court for civil and criminal matters in Albany, Western Australia. On the shores of the beautiful King George Sound, the first European settlement in 1826 was really a penal colony under the jurisdiction of the New South Wales Colony, and the first ‘courthouse’ as such a simple thatched roof affair. More history can be read on the WA Government’s Department of Justice page.

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Orange Courthouse 1883, Orange, Central Tablelands, New South Wales

Orange Courthouse New South Wales

 


The current Orange Courthouse building was designed by the Colonial Government Architect James Barnet. Construction was completed in 1883. Previous buildings existed on the site, the first being erected in 1847, around the time of the town’s settlement, and operated as a Court of Petty Sessions, being the usual arrangements in those times.

Orange was proclaimed a municipality in 1860, the first meeting being held in the Courthouse, located on the same site as today, but a different structure.

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The historic Berry Courthouse 1892, New South Wales

 

The former Courthouse in Berry was designed by the colonial government architect James Barnet in the Greek Revival Style. No longer operating as a courthouse the building has been restored and is admirably surrounded by beautiful lush, formal gardens.

The website of the Berry Courthouse Conservation Committee contains information on the history of Berry Courthouse, the building and its restoration.

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Water Police Court 1886, Sydney

Water Police Court (former), Sydney
The Police Court or Water Police Court in Phillip Street, Sydney near the busy waterfront of Circular Quay, no longer operates as a courthouse. Instead it is home to the Justice and Police Museum, telling stories of earlier times when water transport, merchant shipping and a busy harbour required regulating and policing to keep law and order in a rapidly developing colony.

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