Edward Smith Hall and the Introduction of Jury Trials to New South Wales

<p>This article considers aspects of the career of Edward Smith Hall, a newspaper editor who championed democratic reform to secure what he imagined to be the rights of Englishmen. We pay particular attention to the Supreme Court case of Hall v Rossi and others (1830) in which Hall was successful in challenging three magistrates who wrongfully convicted him, a result that would have been highly unlikely without a jury (unless a magistrate was willing to convict his peers). The case highlights the friction between the emancipists and exclusives and the way the courts could be manipulated by two men wishing to play out a not-so-private conflict. Fresh evidence is offered that by 1830 emancipists were on NSW jury lists and it is very likely that there were emancipist jurors in the case of Hall v Rossi and others. We argue that Hall's unique contribution to the jury debates — as both theorist and participant — illustrates the tension and uncertainty experienced by a society in transition.</p>