Leo Finn Bernard Cussen K.B. (1859 - 1933)

Born 29 Nov 1859 in Portland, Victoria, Australia

Husband of Johanna (Bevan) Cussen — married 1890 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Died 17 May 1933 at age 73 in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia

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Biography

Leo Cussen K.B. is Notable.

Sir Leo Finn Bernard Cussen a noted Australian jurist, was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Born at Portland in the Colony of Victoria in November, 1859 the son of Irish immigrants Maurice Cussen and his wife Margaret Finn.

He was educated at firstly the Hamilton College in Hamilton in western Victoria and then studied civil engineering at the University of Melbourne. While there, the talented young sportsman represented the University in both cricket and Australian rules football. He graduated initially in 1879 and then returned to the University of Melbourne to study arts and law, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1884, and a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees in 1886.

Leo Finn Cussen was admitted to the Victorian Bar to practice as a barrister in September 1886 and in 1890 was appointed as a lecturer in law at the University of Melbourne. In that year, he also married Johanna Bevan, at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. They would go on to have six sons and a daughter.

On the 19th of March 1906, Leo Finn Bernard Cussen was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. And in 1921 he was knighted for his services as a Judge in the Supreme Court of Victoria, receiving the Knights Bachelor the following year. He would later also served as Chief Justice of Victoria. And he also remained on the law faculty of the University of Melbourne for forty-three years. Serving from 1902 as a member of the Universities council.

He was also very active in his private life including being elected the President of the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1907, a position he would hold until his death. And also serving time as president of the Public Library, Museums, and National Gallery of Victoria.

He had undergone surgery earlier in 1922 to remove part of the large intestine, and while on extended leave to recover, he took his wife and daughter on an extensive tour of Europe. On 17 May 1933 Sir Leo Finn Bernard Cussen died suddenly at his home in Hawthorn at the age of 73. He had been sitting in court only two days before. A huge public funeral and procession followed, with Archbishop Daniel Mannix presiding at pontifical Mass in St Patrick's Cathedral. He was survived by his wife and 6 surviving children, and he is buried at the Boroondara General Cemetery, in Kew, Victoria, Australia.

It is worth noting that portraits of Sir Leo Finn Bernard Cussen by Sir John Longstaff are held by the National Gallery of Victoria and by the Victorian Supreme Court Library, and another by William McInnes by the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Sources

• Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages: BIRTH: CUSSEN, Leo Finn - event: Birth - mother: Margaret FINN - father: Maurice - place of birth: P'LAND - registration year: 1859 - registration no. 20289/1859. first accessed online on the 15th of May, 2022 from the Victorian Family History Search searchable database at: https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

• New South Wales Births, Deaths & Marriages. MARRIAGE: registration no. 474/1890 - groom: CUSSEN, LEO F. - bride: BEVAN, JOHANNA - district: SYDNEY. from the NSW Family History Search first accessed online on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search/marriages?

• Victoria Death reg.no.3669 / 1933 CUSSEN Leo Finn Bernard - parents : Cussen Maurice 7 Margaret (Finn) - death at Hawthorn aged 73 years.

• http://www.swvic.org/casterton/cussen.htm

• Jenny Cook and B. Keon-Cohen, Cussen, Sir Leo Finn Bernard (1859–1933), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cussen-sir-leo-finn-bernard-5857/text9959, published first in hardcopy 1981, accessed online 15 May 2022.

• Leo Cussen from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. first accessed online on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Cussen

• NEW YEAR HONOURS. from The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) of Monday 2 January 1922, Page 6. first accessed on TROVE on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4720811?

• Family Notices from The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) of Friday 19 May 1933, Page 1. first accessed on TROVE on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203814541?searchTerm=cussen

• Grave record for Sir Leo Finn Bernard Cussen (Died: 17 May 1933), Billion Graves Record 30183313 Melbourne, Boroondara City, Victoria, Australia. first accessed on line on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Leo-Finn-Bernard-Cussen/30183313

• Find a Grave, database and images accessed 15 May 2022), memorial page for Judge Leo Finn Bernard Cussen (29 Nov 1859–17 May 1933), Find a Grave Memorial ID Find A Grave: Memorial #194395425, citing Boroondara General Cemetery, Kew, Boroondara City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by letemrip (contributor 49084452) .

• SIR LEO CUSSEN. in The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) of Saturday 20 May 1933, Page 10, first accessed on TROVE on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/141375346?

• SIR LEO CUSSEN PASSES from Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954) of Saturday 27 May 1933, Page 8. first accessed on TROVE on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223848649?

• LATE SIR LEO CUSSEN. from The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) of Thursday 17 August 1933, Page 9. first accessed on TROVE on the 15th of May, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204369410?

• Portrait, Sir Leo Cussen, 1930 by Sir John Longstaff from Victorian Collections accessed 17 May 2022.

• Sir Leo Cussen—A Brief Note About A Great Jurist by Justice Mark Weinberg AO Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Victoria. from the VICTORIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL ISSUE 287 VOLUME 88, NUMBER 1 JUNE 2017 (the journal of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria) (page 114 - 125) accessed 17 May 2022.