Edward McTiernan
Australian politician
Died when: 97 years 327 days (1174 months)Star Sign: Aquarius
Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan, KBE (16 February 1892 – 9 January 1990), was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge.He served on the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1976, the longest-serving judge in the court's history.
McTiernan was born in Glen Innes, New South Wales.He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1915, and was called to the bar the following year.
McTiernan was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1920, representing the Labor Party, and was soon after appointed Attorney-General of New South Wales.
He served as attorney-general under John Storey, James Dooley, and Jack Lang, but left state politics in 1927.McTiernan was elected to the House of Representatives in 1929, but served for little over a year before Prime Minister James Scullin nominated him to the High Court.
He was 38 at the time; only H.V.Evatt (another Scullin nominee) was appointed at a younger age.On the court, McTiernan was considered a moderate, and was known for the consistency of his decisions.
He generally favoured the position of the federal government, upholding the constitutionality of contentious legislation from both sides of politics.
McTiernan retired reluctantly at the age of 84, after just under 46 years on the High Court bench.He lived to the age of 97, and was the last surviving MP from the 1920s.
