Sir William Foster Stawell <small>KCMG</small> (27 June 181512 March 1889) was a British colonial statesman and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia. Stawell was the first Attorney-General of Victoria, serving from 1851 to 1856 as an appointed official sitting in the Victorian Legislative Council, and from 1856 until 1857, as an elected politician, representing Melbourne.
Early life
Stawell was born in Old Court, County Cork, Ireland the second son of ten children of Jonas Stawell and his wife Anna, second daughter of the Right Reverend William Foster, bishop of Clogher. Stawell was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, studied law at the King's Inns, Dublin, and at Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the Irish bar in 1839. Stawell travelled in Europe with his friends Redmond Barry and James Moore. He practised law in Ireland until 1842 when he decided to emigrate to Australia. and became a member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council.