Graham Speight

Who was Graham Speight?

Sir Graham Davies Speight was a New Zealand High Court judge. He served as the acting Queen's Representative in the Cook Islands in 1984.

Speight was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 21 July 1921. He was educated at Newmarket School, Auckland Grammar School and the University of Auckland, where he earned his law degree in 1942. Speight served in the New Zealand Army from 1942 until 1946 following his graduation from Auckland University. He married his wife, Elizabeth Muriel Booth, in 1947. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter.

Speight served as the Crown Solicitor in Auckland from 1959 until 1966. He was appointed a High Court judge in 1966. He later served as the Chief Justice of the Cook Islands and the President of the Court of Appeal of Fiji from 1982 until 1988.

Sir Graham Speight died on 17 July 2008, at Eastcliffe Hospital in Auckland at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife, son and five grandchildren.