Minnie Dean's lawyer

Alfred Hanlon’s first murder trial was a sensation.
HIs client Billy Fogarty had hit Jimmy Fiddis who fell over, hit his head and died. Billy was charged with manslaughter and found guilty - but by the end, he served just one hour in custody.
Because Billy was 12 and Jimmy was only just 11 and had been arguing over a toy.
In his time as a lawyer Alf - as he was usually called - was the defence in 18 murder trials and 22 manslaughter trials.
As a lawyer he was considered the very best in early New Zealand, making his name with some of the most high profile cases New Zealand has ever seen, like baby farmer Minnie Dean.
Alfred - or Alf as he was usually called was born on August 1, 1866, to Elizabeth and William Hanlon who had come to New Zealand in 1862 from Ireland.
William became a member of the Otago constabulary and Alf would have seen the law in action.
Alf attended various schools, not always enthusiastically, before becoming a law clerk at age 15 then becoming a barrister and solicitor.
He had to set up his own practice in his early twenties and his career spanned over 50 years, becoming a King’s Council in 1930.
Alf was an impressive man, standing well over 6ft in his black robes and his turn of phrase and addresses to juries was considered legendary so much so that he actually drew crowds to trials where he appeared. He was commanding in the courtroom and an exceptional speaker.
The case he is most associated with is Minnie Dean in 1895, the only woman to be hanged in New Zealand, and obviously a case he lost. He had contended that it was manslaughter rather than murder.
His grasp of the dramatic often worked to his advantage. In the case against Thomas Kerry for casting away a yacht at the mouth of the Waitaki River he suspected a document was a forgery. He had a photograph made, enlarged and thrown up against a screen to compare the words added to the original. It was so successful the prosecution opted to withdraw the document as evidence and Hanlon’s client was acquitted.
As well as criminal work he worked divorce cases and nautical litigation - he had a river limit captains certificate himself.
Like many great lawyers, he was theatrical, Alf loved Shakespeare and he considered acting as a career at one time. He was a founding member and president of the Dunedin Competitions Society and the Dunedin Shakespeare club.
He declined to get involved with politics but was president of the Otago District Law Society.
Alf hated snobbery, was atheist, loved gambling and often wore a sprig of boronia in his buttonhole.
In 1894 he had married Mary Ann Hudson (daughter of the founder of Hudson’s biscuits) and they had four children.
He died at Dunedin on February 6, 1944, aged 77, and was buried at Andersons Bay cemetery.​