The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Knight, Thomas John
Knight, Thomas John, youngest son of William Young Knight and Elizabeth (née Claridge) his wife, was born at Birlingham, near Pershore, Worcestershire, Nov. 1st, 1804. He entered at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar on Nov. 25th, 1831. In 1841 he was appointed Chairman of Quarter Sessions in Jamaica, and held that appointment and the office of Judge of Common Pleas until 1844, when he returned to England invalided. In 1845 he emigrated with his family to Tasmania, and practised at the bar in Hobart, being the first barrister in Tasmania appointed Queen's Counsel. On the introduction of responsible government he was elected to the House of Assembly, and held the office of Solicitor-General in the Smith Ministry from 1857 to 1860, in which year, on Mr. Smith's elevation to the Bench, he became Attorney-General under Mr. Weston as Premier, and held the office until Feb. 4th, 1861. Mr. Knight returned to England in 1865, and died at Richmond, Surrey, on April 26th, 1870. He married Margaret, daughter of the Rev. William Ward.