Percy Hugh Hutton SMITH [7390]

  General Notes:

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) Wednesday 3 December 1947
Court Defines Law On Club Drinks:
Privately-owned liquor kept in lockers in unregistered clubs may be legally consumed on the premises by members. This decision was made" by the Full Court yesterday. The Court also held that liquor kept in a common stock on behalf of all members of an unregistered club may not be legally consumed on the premises. The decisions arose out of applications to the Court for statutory prohibition against several convictions for offences against the Liquor Act. The applicants were William Joseph Turner, steward, and Percy Hugh Hutton Smith, secretary, of the Narrandera Ex-Servicemen's Club, and Bertie Roy Gore, secretary, and Keith Mulholland, steward, of the Narrandera Bowling and Recreation Club. The applications by Turner and Smith were upheld; those by Gore and Mulholland were rejected.
ISSUE OF "SUPPLY"
Mr. Justice Davidson said there was nothing in the Act which prohibited a member of an unregistered club from keeping liquor for his own consumption in a locker allotted to him for general purposes. The sole question concerned the meaning of the word "supply." Unquestionably, a club member would be lawfully entitled to go to his locker, take out his liquor, and pour a drink for himself without being guilty of supplying the liquor. He would be in no different position if he performed the same act by his agent instead of personally. His Honor held that Smith and Turner should succeed in their application because the evidence indicated that the members who were drinking were in each instance consuming only their own liquors taken by their agent from their own lockers.
DRINKS WITH MEALS
Mr. Justice Street said there was nothing in the Act to prevent a person taking a bottle of beer with him to an unlicensed restaurant and consuming it with a meal. The position was not affected if the bottle was opened by a waiter and the beer poured into a glass by the same or another waiter. A person could also leave a, bottle of beer on restaurant premises to be available for him when he came later to consume a meal. Mr. Justice Street said the bowling club cases raised a different problem. Section 149 of the Liquor Act forbade the sale in an unregistered club of any liquor to any person. The keeping of liquor for sale in such a club rendered every officer and member of the club liable to a penalty. The Chief Justice, Sir Frederick Jordan, held that none of the convictions could be supported. Mr. Wallace, K.C., and Mr. Bruxner (by Messrs. Garland Seaborn and Abbott, city agents for Messrs. Matthews and Dangar, of Narrandera) for the applicants; Mr. Redshaw (by the Crown Solicitor) for the Crown.

Percy married Doris Irene BRANFORD [7388] [MRIN: 2568], daughter of Ezra BRANFORD [887] and Lucy Rose WOODS [891], in 1925 in Victoria, Australia. (Doris Irene BRANFORD [7388] was born on 9 Apr 1899 in Bulls Creek, Strathalbyn, South Australia and died on 21 Oct 1962 in Narrandera, NSW, Australia.)

  Marriage Notes:

1925 Vic Marriage BRANFORD Doris Irene SMITHPercy Hugh HuttonReg. no 6911