Castles, Alex C. 1933-2003 (Alex Cuthbert Castles)

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Castles, Alex C. 1933-2003 (Alex Cuthbert Castles)

PERSONAL:

Born 1933; died December, 2003; children: Jennifer and Margaret.

CAREER:

Educator, writer, and editor. Adelaide Law School, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, professor of law, c. 1970-2003.

WRITINGS:

Social Psychological Techniques and the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes: A Report Based on Proceedings of a Workshop at Lake Mohonk, New York, May 1970, UNITAR (New York, NY), 1970.

An Introduction to Australian Legal History, Law Book (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1971.

Australia and the United Nations, Longman Australia (Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia), 1974.

(Compiler and editor) Australia: A Chronology and Fact Book, 1606-1976, Oceana Publications (Dobbs Ferry, NY), 1978.

(Selector and editor, with J.M. Bennett) A Source Book of Australian Legal History: Source Materials from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Centuries, Law Book (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1979.

An Australian Legal History, Law Book (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1982.

Law on North Terrace, 1883-1983, Faculty of Law, University of Adelaide (Adelaide, Australia), 1983.

Compendium of Human Rights Courses in Australia Tertiary Institutions, Australian Government Publishing Service (Canberra, Australia), 1983.

Lawmakers and Wayward Whigs: Government and Law in South Australia, 1836-1986, Wakefield Press (Adelaide, Australia), 1987.

Annotated Bibliography of Printed Materials on Australian Law, 1788-1900, Law Book (North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia), 1994.

The Shark Arm Murders: The Thrilling True Story of a Tiger Shark and a Tattooed Arm, Wakefield Press (Kent Town, South Africa), 1995.

South Australian Legal Records, Adelaide Law Review Association (Adelaide, Australia), 1996.

The Constitutional and Legal History of Sarawak: Documents and Commentaries, Volume I: People's Law-Making and Brooke Rule, Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia Cawangan Sarawak (Kuching, Malaysia), 2003.

(With daughter, Jennifer Castles) Ned Kelly's Last Days: Setting the Record Straight on the Death of an Outlaw, afterword by John Williams, Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia), 2005.

Lawless Harvests or God Save the Judges: Van Diemen's Land 1803-55, a Legal History, Australian Scholarly Publishing (North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

A law professor, the late Alex C. Castles wrote and edited numerous historical accounts of Australian law as well as a biography of the notorious Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. An example of the author's law writing is The Constitutional and Legal History of Sarawak: Documents and Commentaries, Volume I: People's Law-Making and Brooke Rule. In this volume, the author recounts the history of the Sarawak law up until the passage of the 1941 constitution, shortly before the Japanese army arrived. Referring to the author's "erudite and pithy commentaries," Borneo Research Bulletin contributor Bob Reece also wrote: "Altogether, Castles' work will be a great boon to Sarawak's lawyers and politicians as well as to historians and anthropologists and all those who are curious to investigate the distinctive character of Sarawak and its constitutional and legal origins."

Ned Kelly's Last Days: Setting the Record Straight on the Death of an Outlaw was begun by the author and completed by his daughter, Jennifer Castles, after the author's death in 2003. This historical account focuses on the noted bushranger's trial and final days. In the process, the authors explore the political motivation and intrigue that contributed to Kelly's execution. "This is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in Australian history or law," wrote Sally Murphy on AussieReviews.com. Christopher Bantick, writing in the Melbourne Age, noted that the author "has trawled the available records of the Kelly capture, trial and eventual execution with a forensic eye for detail."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August 1, 2006, Jay Freeman, review of Ned Kelly's Last Days: Setting the Record Straight on the Death of an Outlaw, p. 15.

Borneo Research Bulletin, annual, 2005, Bob Reece, review of The Constitutional and Legal History of Sarawak: Documents and Commentaries, Volume I: People's Law-Making and Brooke Rule, p. 261.

Melbourne Age, July 16, 2005, Christopher Bantick, review of Ned Kelly's Last Days.