Trevor Henry

Who was Trevor Henry?

Sir Trevor Ernest Henry was a New Zealand justice and member of the well known Henry family.

Henry was born in Thames in 1902 and was the son of John and Edith Henry. He was the eldest of the three sons who include Jack Henry and Clive Henry. He studied law at the University of Auckland before being admitted as a barrister in 1925.

He was one of the founding partners of the Auckland law firm, Wilson Henry, and was involved in several high-profile cases during the 1930s, including the murder trial of Eric Mareo and Dove-Myer Robinson's landmark lawsuit to prevent the Auckland Drainage Board discharging sewerage in Auckland Harbour.

Henry was raised to the bench of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in 1955, the same year that his son, John Henry was raised to the bar. He was knighted in 1970 for his services to Her Majesty's New Zealand justice system. In 1984, Sir Trevor and John made New Zealand legal history as the first father and son to sit together on a High Court bench in New Zealand. Sir Trevor was also a Justice of the Fijian Court of Appeal and served a term as the Chief Justice of Tonga.

Sir Trevor also continued the Henry family's long history of community involvement, sitting on the 1936 New Zealand Olympic Games Committee, serving three terms on the New Zealand Parole Board and chairing the New Zealand War Pensions Appeal Board.