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150
the civil power of the Chif Police Magistrate and the
Police Force to prevent any breach of the peace on or
upon the persons or premises. of any of Her Majesty 's
subjects in Hobart Town or its vicinity .
H.E.F. Young ,
Sept . 14th 1855 .
The Chief Police Magistrate was similarly advised to be r.ady with the
Police Force.
known such a dramatic moment .
Never in its fifty odd years of existence had Hobart Town
met twice to consider what steps to take.
begged the Governor 's protection:
On September 15 , the Executive Council
Hampton, too , was alarmed and
The Legislative Council having last night decided that
I anr to be arrested and brought to the Bar ofthe House
under a warrant of the Speaker which the Law Officers
of the Crown have declared to be altogether an unlawful
proceeding, I have now the honor to submit to your Excellency
roy apprehension that some attempt may be made under the
assumed authority of such a warrant, forcibly to enter roy
house for the purpose of arresting roe and that further from
what occurred yesterday in the shape of gatherings of
disorderly persons in various parts of the Town and in the
immediate neighbourhood of roy private residence, roy house
and property may be exposed to the risk of serious damage
and that I am therefore compelled to request that under
these circumstances you will be pleased to grant roe an
assurance that I shall receive such protection from the
12
government ....
However , Hampton 's proposal that he surrender to the
Sergeant-at-Arms at his own house was accepted by the Council the next
day.
He immediately sued a writ of 11habeas corpus11 against the Speaker
and the Se_rgeant-at-Arros .
The same afternoon the Solicitor-General
advised the Executive Council that the warrant was illegal .
Without
waiting for the judgment of the Supreme Court, which was sitting on
Sepember 19 , the Goernor took the advice of his Executive and decided
.
to prorogue the Legislative Assemb ly.
On September 18, exactly at
half past nine in the evening, the Governor's Aide-de-Camp appeared at
the Bar of the House and announced the Governor's presence.
Immediately,
Sir Henry entered in full uniform, accompanied only by his Aide-de-Camp
and Private Secretary.
As the members rose to their feet , he moved to
the Speaker 's dias and, amidst a stunned silence, prorogued the counci l
until October 20, thus maki.ng the Speaker 's warrant null and void.
It was a fitting end to eleven days of highly-charged emotion, dramatic
episodes and constitutional and legal argument .
12 Minutes of the Executive Counci l, 1855, E.C. 4/9 , 10.