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.
Young, a town on the south-west slopes of New South Wales has two courthouse buildings. One is the operating local courthouse while the other, constructed in 1886 is now part of a school.
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.
The old Darwin Courthouse was constructed in 1884 of stone and other material from local sources. Following Cyclone Tracy it underwent extensive restoration and now used for administration.
The old Port Adelaide Courthouse constructed in 1882 lies adjacent to the earlier Port Adelaide Police Station built in 1861. Inquests into deaths, often due to drownings following heavy drinking at local pubs, were held. These were inquests by juries in those times before the local police magistrate.
The Armidale Courthouse and Sherriffs Office at 143-145 Beardy Street, Armidale, in the Northern Tablelands was an operating Local Court of New South Wales until January 2014. The first courthouse was constructed in 1844 with a more substantial building erected in 1858, in the Classical Revival style.
The former Beechworth Courthouse was built in 1852 and ceased operating as a courthouse in 1989. Local history records that Ned Kelly, his mother and other bushrangers appeared in the courtroom of the Beechworth Courthouse.
The Magna Carta, sealed under oath by King John at Runnymede, England in 1215, became part of English law, and subsequently adopted into Australian law.
Manly Courthouse was first constructed in 1909 on the site of the former Ivanhoe Hotel and regarded as a significant development.
While the locality had no crime to speak of it was observed the residents had the right to have a court of their own to save the inconvenience of having to travel across the water to settle their troubles.
The Norwood Courthouse 1937 in Norwood, Adelaide was one of the few police courthouse buildings built during the interwar period. It was reported at the time as being the ‘most commanding building outside the City’.
The current Clare Courthouse was constructed in 1878 and occupied in 1880. The first Courthouse was constructed on a different site in 1850, and is now a museum.
Please note: if you have landed here looking to contact the Court please see the Court Sitting Locations of the SA Courts Administration Authority here for information.
Although a magistrate resided in Port Augusta 1856, it was over ten years before a proper courthouse building was constructed.
The Auburn Courthouse in Auburn in the mid-north of South Australia was constructed in 1860 of local bluestone. Auburn was an important stop-over point at the time from the mining areas around Burra to the north and the coastal port on St Vincent’s Gulf.
