Book excerpt: Archibald Paull Burt, "reputed to be the ablest lawyer in the West Indies", arrived in Western Australia in 1861 at the age of 50 when bureaucratic disputes blocked his preferment in the Caribbean. He advised the government on the need for a Supreme Court of comprehensive jurisdiction and helped to see into place that and many other legal and constitutional changes. He was appointed first Cheif Justice of the colony, and until his death in 1879, he was the Colony's sole judge.