{{Short description|Australian politician (1790–1877)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = The Honourable |name = Saxe Bannister |honorific_suffix = |image= |order = 1st |office = Attorney-General of New South Wales |term_start = 14 April 1824 |term_end = 13 October 1826 |predecessor = |successor = William Moore |birth_date = 1790 |birth_place = Steyning, Sussex, United Kingdom |death_date = 16 September 1877 |death_place = Thornton Heath, England |relatives=Thomas Bannister (brother) }} '''Saxe Bannister''' (1790 – 16 September 1877) was a writer and the first Attorney-General of New South Wales, Australia.<ref name="ADB">{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Currey |first=C H |year=1966 |id2=bannister-saxe-1738 |title=Bannister, Saxe (1790–1877) |accessdate=2020-11-20}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Bannister was born in Steyning, Sussex, son of John Bannister. He matriculated at The Queen's College, Oxford, in December 1808 and graduated B.A. 1813, M.A. 1815.<ref>Joseph Foster ''Alumni Oxonienses'' 1715–1886</ref>
==Career== Bannister volunteered for active service when Napoleon escaped from Elba. With a captain's commission, he was on his way to Belgium when the Battle of Waterloo ended the war. He retired from the army on half-pay and was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn.<ref name="ADB"/>
===Attorney-General of New South Wales=== Bannister was appointed the first attorney-general of New South Wales in March 1823.. On 17 May 1824, he was sworn in at the first sitting of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.<ref name="DAB">{{Dictionary of Australian Biography |First=Saxe |Last=Bannister |shortlink=0-dict-biogBa.html#bannister1}}</ref>
===Resignation as Attorney-General of New South Wales=== Soon after his resignation, he fought a "harmless duel" with barrister and newspaper editor, Robert Wardell.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1826-12-16|title=FROM THE SYDNEY GAZETTE.|pages=4|work=Hobart Town Gazette (Tas. : 1825 - 1833)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8790850|access-date=2021-08-08}}</ref>
==Death== Bannister died at Thornton Heath, England, on 16 September 1877, survived by his wife and a daughter, Mrs Wyndham.<ref name="ADB"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183959420902061 Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877], State Library of Queensland- includes digitised correspondence and letters written by Bannister to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-new |Office}} {{s-ttl |title= Attorney-General | years = 14 Apr 1824{{spaced ndash}}13 Oct 1826}} {{s-aft |after= William Moore |as=acting}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Saxe}} Category:1790 births Category:1877 deaths Category:Australian non-fiction writers Category:Attorneys general of the Colony of New South Wales Category:Lawyers from Sydney Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Category:People from Steyning Category:19th-century Australian politicians Category:Australian duellists Category:Colony of New South Wales politicians