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Shortly after his appointment Mallam insisted on carrying on the Court as the Supreme Court of North Australia
and the Supreme Court of Central Australia, both of which had come into existence on 1 February 1927, when
the Northern Territory was divided into two separate territories. His predecessor, Roberts J, had, in effect, ignored
the provisions of the Northern Australia Act 1926 which had established the new Courts. A stickler for formalities
such as these, he was later to hold that neither court had been conferred with jurisdiction in bankruptcy, due to
errors in the drafting of the Commonwealth Bankruptcy Act 1924–1927. Some of his decisions seemed to display
something of an anti-Commonwealth and anti-establishment bias, although he was careful to justify himself with
well written, and well-researched, reasons for his judgments. Perhaps it would be fairer to record that if the law
could be used to support the underdog, he would not go out of his way to avoid that consequence. For example, in
1931, Mallam upheld challenges made to jurors involved in the Citizens Protection League at the trial of one of the
unemployed involved in a fracas between police and unemployed on the verandah of Government House. Mallam
was particularly critical of the Citizens Protection League, made up of mostly conservative elements in the town,
which he likened to a vigilance committee.
In November 1928, he sat on the trial of Padygar and Arkikra, two Aborigines charged with the murder of
Frederick Brooks at Coniston Station. This was the first time the Supreme Court of Central Australia had ever
sat officially, although the hearing was in Darwin. The Crown sought to lead evidence of confessions made by
each accused after they had been violently arrested. Mallam rejected the confessions as inadmissible because they
were not voluntary. One reason he gave for his decision was that neither confession was made with the consent
of the Protector of Aborigines—a unique early attempt by the court to protect tribal Aborigines from confessions
obtained by police once in custody. Verdicts of not guilty were promptly returned in favour of both the Aboriginals.
The evidence at the trial relating to the case generally caused an uproar and led to the Commonwealth appointing
a Commission of Enquiry into the police role in the Coniston killings, although the Commission ultimately
whitewashed the whole affair.
Towards the end of 1931, Mallam’s health had deteriorated to such a degree that his decision to resign was
an open secret. In late August 1931, the Darwin Town Council resolved to send a deputation to him to see if his
services could be retained by his visiting the Territory periodically. Mallam indicated that he was prepared to
continue on in this way, and the Council resolved to take the matter up with the Minister.
By mid-1932, Mallam had taken sick leave and was replaced temporarily by Acting Justice Sharwood, (then the
Commonwealth Crown Solicitor). Mallam resigned in early 1933 and was replaced by Justice Wells. The proposal
for him to remain on as Judge and visit the Territory periodically was never seriously considered.
After his retirement, Mallam moved to Melbourne where he settled after a year’s interlude in Adelaide.
Whatever his illness was—thought to be sprue—it was not serious enough to curtail his life span. In 1940 and 1949,
he published two scrapbooks amongst his circle of friends consisting of his own thoughts as well as quotations
from the ancient Greeks to modern matters. He died, aged 76, on 26 May 1954. He left his entire estate, a not
inconsiderable sum, to Macartney.
D Lockwood, The Front Door, 1969; F T Macartney, Proof Against Failure, 1967, A Noticeable Man, 1957; Minutes of record of High Court of
Australia relating to In re Mallam and Mallam v Minister for Home & Territories, 28 February 1921, 1 March 1921, 23 March 1921; Northern
Standard, 18 May 1928, 11 September 1928, 19 October 1928, 23 October 1928, 23 October 1928, 9 November 1928, 19 March 1929,
17 April 1931, 4 September 1931, 22 July 1932, 30 September 1932; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 18 January 1921, 3 March 1921,
21 May 1921, 22 June 1928; Ordinances of the Northern Territory, 1911–1969, vol III, p 2190; Presley v Geraghty; (1921) 29 Commonwealth
Law Reports 154; Transcript of Memorial Sittings, Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, 20 September 1954.
DEAN MILDREN, Vol 3.
MALONEY, BETTY ELEANOR: see RICHARDS, BETTY ELEANOR
MALONEY, JAMES HENRY (JIMMY or JERRY) (1904–1988), engineer and builder, was born in 1904 in
Collie, Western Australia, son of James Lawrence Maloney and his wife Charlotte, nee Martin. When he was
a teenager, his parents moved to Wyndham. During a visit to Darwin as a teenager, he won a swimming race
at Vesteys pool—now known as the ‘Tank’ or Darwin High School gymnasium. He completed an engineering
apprenticeship at the Wyndham meatworks and became chief engineer. He married Ellen (Nellie) Walsh in
Wyndham but in 1933 after only a few years of marriage Nellie died. His parents took over responsibility for his
young daughter, Patricia.
About 1934 Jimmy followed his parents and sisters to Tennant Creek and, with his father, built the original
Goldfields Hotel. He was a clever engineer and erected and managed several crushing batteries on the goldfields
over the years. For example, he built the first battery and crusher and put down the first bore at the Rising Sun mine
which was owned by William Weaber, long time friend of the Maloney family. According to Kevan Weaber,
Jimmy was the ‘best man you could get to do anything with heavy machinery or sinking bores’. He also worked
in the southern part of the Territory sinking bores, and during the war years was in charge of all the bores on
Banka Banka station owned by his long time friend Mary Ward. The military was camped nearby and required
water for the troops in transit between Alice Springs and Darwin.
He stayed at Banka long after the war was over and met and married, about 1948, his second wife, Irene Isabelle
Jeffries, who went to Banka Banka as a teacher for the Aboriginal children there. They settled in Alice Springs but
the marriage ended in divorce and Jerry returned to Tennant Creek and died there on 24 April 1988, aged 83. He is
buried in the Tennant Creek cemetery.
Jimmy was a splendid sportsman and played rugby league for the Rising Sun team and cricket for the town
team. He was also a brilliant billiards player who took on all comers from as far afield as Mt Isa, Darwin and